


One Dick, Two Dick, Red Dick, Blue Dick

by teicakes



Series: 1D, 2D Extended Universe [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: 69 (Sex Position), Alpha Keith, Alpha Lance, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Anal Fingering, Biting, Blindfolds, Blow Jobs, Bottom Shiro (Voltron), Cock Warming, Come Eating, Come Inflation, Dirty Talk, Double Penetration, Double Penetration in One Hole, Eventual Happy Ending, Fisting, Frottage, Knotting, M/M, Marathon Sex, Masturbation, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Nipple Play, OPEN TO SUGGESTIONS FOR SERIES - see notes, Omega Shiro, Omega Verse, Overstimulation, Praise Kink, Rimming, Scent Marking, Scenting, Sensory Deprivation, Slow Burn, Spitroasting, Threesome, Tit job, clueless idiots, hunk and pidge deserve a weekend off after all this, i promise the filth picks back up after ch 8, lance and keith have the hots for him but whats new with that, more filth to come, shiro that's not a dildo, shiro's in heat and needs all the dicks, shirt sniffing, worldbuilding sciencegasms
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-25
Updated: 2018-02-17
Packaged: 2018-08-17 03:51:51
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 78,949
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8129411
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/teicakes/pseuds/teicakes
Summary: Shiro announces he's off on a solo journey out of the blue that has the other paladins scrambling to figure out what's going through the mind of their (presumed) Alpha of a leader. Little do any of them know just how much hands on help he’s going to need to get through it.Bottom Shiro filth for my soul.





	1. Oh the Places You'll Bone

**Author's Note:**

> My title writing skills are horrible but hopefully not my fic writing ones
> 
> Edit: Andddd~ y'all lovely crazies encouraged me to go and make bad Seuss puns for all the chapter titles now. Bless you C:

Shiro always been supportive team member. He was the type to let his fledglings leave the nest but not without keeping a sharp eye on them.  _ Stick together _ may as well have been his motto. Through thick and thin he fought to make sure no one was left on their own out on the battlefield, not unless there was no other way. A family that fought together stayed together. 

Which made him announcing a solo mission at breakfast all the more confusing.

“Wait, so you want to go on a reconnaissance mission…  _ alone? _ ” said Keith. 

“Shouldn’t someone else go with you? After all what if something happens to you? What if you get captured? What if you can’t make it back to us and we have no way to contact you and get you?” Hunk’s forehead was wrinkled in concern, spouting off question after question like a worried parent. 

“Guys, I’ll be fine,” said Shiro with an uneasy smile. “It’ll just be a week. I just… remembered something from when I was held hostage, I think I might know where to get some unguarded Galra intel. I can sneak in, download it, and bring it back here. I don’t want to risk anyone else in case I’m wrong.”

Lance cocked an eyebrow. “If you say you’ll be fine why are you worried about risking the rest of us? Seems a bit fishy for something you’re pretty sure isn’t swarming with soldiers.” There was a grunt of agreement from Keith. 

“Look, if I didn’t think it would draw more attention to us I’d bring all you along, but this is a stealth mission. It should just be me, I know where the planet is and bringing more than one lion would make us a target. Just me means less chances of being seen.”

“Not being seen? So couldn’t you fly with Pidge in green and be totally invisible?”

“I-” Shiro’s mouth dangled open, looking from Lance to Pidge to Hunk and Keith. Pidge stirred a spoonful of food goo on her plate, eying him with one of those looks that was normally reserved for decoding the strangest behaviour of Hunk and Lance. “I guess… but I wouldn’t…”

“You wouldn’t what?” Keith drummed a finger on his arm. “You’re the one always insisting that the rest of us never go out alone. Look at what happens to Lance when we leave him unsupervised.”

“ _ Hey!” _

“-What I’m saying Shiro,” he continued, “is that the same should go for you.”

“We’re a team after all,” Hunk added. “We all care about you, you shouldn’t have to do things on your own, we’re here for you. I’m sure Pidge’d be fine with going with you, right Pidge?”

“Yeah, whatever works. Unless there’s another reason it has to be just you I’ll go prep green now.” Her chair scraped the floor as she stood up. “Or would you want to go with someone else instead?” It was clear by the look on her face she was expecting Shiro to pick someone else as his co-pilot. “Keith maybe?”

“ _ No! _ ” Shiro’s hand slammed down of the table harder than he’d expected, sending the dishes rattling and Lance’s spork skittering over the edge. Everyone jumped.

“I… I mean… if I absolutely had to take someone it’d be you Pidge, but I can’t.” His eyes from one startled face to the next. “I’m going alone, and that’s final. If you need me I’ll be packing supplies for tomorrow, and don’t try and talk me out of going. I need to do this.”

He left the dining hall without another word. 

* * *

“ _ What the hell is he thinking?!” _

Keith was pacing back and forth in front of the couches as the other two watched. More accurately, Lance was watching him wear a trench in the floor and Pidge was slumped beside him fiddling with her laptop. Hunk had left a while ago to go check on the black paladin.

“Of all the lions, his is the most vulnerable if it falls into Zarkon’s hands. We know he’s the past Black paladin, what if he can still fly it? And Shiro….  _ Ugh Shiro! _ Why is he being so stubborn about this?”

“It  _ is _ rather funny he’s being this strict about a data scouting mission. I’d understand it if he was trying to sneak into a Galra hub, but not this tiny uncolonized planetoid.” Pidge gestured at the image on her screen. “Based on Altean records it’s got an atmosphere and some small wildlife but I can’t see anything that would suggest any abandoned Galran bases.”

“So why won’t he just let one of us come with him?!”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Lance dug a clump of wax out of his ear and flicked it over his shoulder. “It’s cause he’s a rough tough alpha who doesn’t take orders from anyone.”

“Lance…” said Pidge with a warning glance. 

“Oh come on Pidge he totally is! I mean like sure he listens to Allura and Coran on alien stuff we’re totally clueless about but the dude is like  _ the _ posterboy for  _ Alphas Illustrated _ . He’s a 6 feet mass of leadership, muscles and jawline, there’s no fucking way he’s unmaking his mind now that he’s got it set. The knot he’s packing is probably insane too. Hell, I’m an Alpha too but if he told me to bend over and let him do me I probably would. No omo,” he added.

“Dude, the  _ fuck? _ ” Keith actually stopped pacing for a second to stare at him.

“Oh come on don’t tell me you haven’t thought about Shiro doing you Keith. The guy’s a walking beefsteak how the heck have you not?” 

The colour in Keith’s cheeks spoke for itself. 

“I totally needed to hear that too, thanks Lance.” Pidge had slunk down even further into the couch, as if the cushions would hopefully consume her and take her far away from this conversation. “I don’t need to know your thoughts on everyone’s junk.”

“Oh come on Pidge, I bet even y-”

“ _ NOPE. _ ” She’d pinched Lance’s bottom lip and twisted it, hard. “Unlike you two horndogs I’m not planning to ever be a slave to my gonads. You’re probably even worse now that we’re off Earth and your suppressant shots have worn off.”

“Well you should be too, shouldn’t you?” Lance said. “There’s no way you had months worth of pills with you when we found Blue.”

All cadets at the garrison - not to mention the staff - were required to be on suppressants. Though the official handbook stated it was to ensure no cadets would miss training for heats or ruts it was pretty clear to everyone the rule was in place to prevent rampant mating and claiming between pairs. What else could they really expect keeping a bunch of young adults together in a campus with surprisingly soundproof dorm rooms? Better to dose everyone to keep the Alpha fighting and pregnancies to the minimum. It worked for the most part, couples were on birth control and fighting was usually reduced to bickering between the most pigheaded of students.

“Please,” Pidge snorted and rolled up her sleeve. “You Alphas know next to nothing about this stuff. Omegas get implants, some Betas too even.” She tapped a small scar on her bicep. “Garrison policy so no one can mess up a pill schedule. They’re good for up to two years, no cramps, no heats, nothing. With this baby I’m set for us to be stuck in space for another year and a half. I think Hunk might have a combo one too that’s good for everything Beta.”

Lance extracted his corkscrewed mouth from her fingers and gave the little pellet a closer look. Keith on the other hand resumed his pacing. 

“That’s great and all but seriously what the hell is Shiro thinking?” he grumbled.

“We’re back on this again?”

“Is there anything else worth talking about?” Lance opened his mouth to presumably start listing things off but was cut short of starting. “He’s hiding something, I know he is. We’ve just got to figure out what it is before he can leave and stop him.”

“Or convince one of us to join him.”

“That too. Pidge you should suggest taking him again you’re probably our best bet if we can’t get him not to leave.”

“He’s not crazy about that idea already, trust me…”

“Hey guys!” Hunk ambled through the door and plunked down on Pidge’s other side, a welcome distraction from Keith’s past hour of stewing. “Are you still going on about Shiro’s solo mission?”

“Well, Keith is,” said Lance with a jerk of his thumb. “How’s old captain hotpants doing? Any change of heart?”

“Nope, none. Figured it’d be pointless to keep badgering him about it and annoy him. May as well just help him be as prepared as possible for it.”

“So you’re just letting him go?” Keith’s face screamed  _ unfuckingbelievable _ . 

“I guess so,” Hunk shrugged. “Though I did plant a bug in his rucksack. Here,” he tossed a small device to Pidge. “That’s the receiver there, location and audio, in case he gets into any trouble. Even if he won’t take any help now he’ll be grateful later if something happens.”

“Hunk, sometimes I forget what a genius you are.” Keith finally joined the others on the couch. “So Pidge, can you get it to work?”

“Yeah, of course.” Within minutes she’d plugged in the drive and booted in the connection. A small bleeping dot showed the tracking device was down by the lifts to the lions, while a squiggling soundwave showed the occasional spike of noise as Shiro grunted or something rustled as it was shoved into the pack. 

“You think he’ll notice it?”

“Probably not. I packed it in a bottle of water purification tablets, so even if he does it probably won’t be until he’s been there for a bit.”

“I still wish he wasn’t going.”

“We’ve  _ heard _ ,” Lance groaned. “You don’t approve of him going out on his own past curfew, but if you’ve forgotten already he’s 3 times more dad than you so I don’t think you get to decide the house rules.”

“I’m not being a dad! You’re being a dad!”

“Flawless comeback Keith.” Pidge hadn’t even looked up from the Altean circuit diagram she’d pulled up. “Keep it up and you might graduate to making dad jokes.”

“ _ I’m… _ ”

“Dude, chill.” Hunk gave Keith’s shoulder a little pat like he was checking an abandoned suitcase for signs of exploding. “None of us like this, but unless we can figure out exactly what and why he’s doing it there’s no way he’s going to listen enough for us to change his mind.”

“Well, let’s see,” said Lance, counting on his fingers. “It could just be iffy intel he remembered and he doesn’t want to waste all our time with it if he’s wrong… he’s horribly understating how dangerous it is and is walking into certain death… he could actually be a double agent for Zarkon and-”

“He’s  _ not _ a double agent Lance!”

“How can you be sure you can rule that out?” Lance squinted across the row of laps, chin jutting out in a defiant pout. “Bet you can’t, can you Keith?”

“I will fucki-”

“Orrr what Lance is probably trying to say is that Shiro’s pretending to be their double agent while actually working from the inside to defeat them,  _ right Lance?” _ Hunk’s eyebrows wiggled like tasered caterpillars in a silent cry of  _ i s2g don’t fight Keith _ . On large hand rested on the red paladin’s chest, keeping from leaning in to the challenge. “He’s a good guy after all.”

“Okay, okay, fine,” he threw up his hands in surrender.  _ No need to get so sensitive Mullet-face. _ “Or I mean there’s the most obvious reason: he wants a break from all of us and doesn’t have the balls to say it to our faces.”

“Makes some sense,” said Pidge.

“Lance you  _ literally  _ just said he’s got the biggest balls you’d ever let near your ass.” Keith had resigned to lean back on the couch in his patented Cool Guy™ pose but the smug couldn’t help but ooze through. “Or was that just all talk?”

“I… well…” for once, Lance was lost for words. 

There was an incredulous look from Hunk. “You guys were talking about who you’d let do you?”

“I’m not here.” Pidge had wedged herself so deep into the sofa now that only her glasses were visible from between the cushions. “Resident asexual signing out.”

“Lance was.”

“Only because Pidge was saying Shiro’s going full Alpha now that he’s out of suppressants!”

“ _ STILL NOT HERE.” _

“Nah, that’s probably not it…” Hunk blinked at the two quizzical faces staring at him. “Oh, don’t you guys remember?”

“Remember what?”

“Shiro’s an Alpha, right? The Alpha suppressants you guys are all on only work for a month before they wash out of your system. It’s so that if something happens on a mission your full Alpha instincts can kick in to protect and lead the rest of the crew until you can make it back to garrison HQ. Shiro disappeared for a full year with the Galra before coming back to Earth, he hasn’t had anything in him for months. He shouldn’t be experiencing any drastic behavioural changes, unless…”

“Unless what?”

“Well, unless there was an Omega in heat around him, but that’s impossible. I’m Beta, you two are both Alphas - which is painfully obvious by how much you guys butt heads by the way - and Pidge has a fresh suppressant bar in her.”

“Well, couldn’t it be going bad with all this space travel? I mean, she does spend a lot of time around electronics you don’t think those machines are giving her all sorts of weird radiation?” Lance jerked his thumb at the cushion chasm where two arms jutted out to Pidge’s laptop. “I mean, in what world is this normal?”

There was a snort and Hunk shook his head. “Not a chance. They’ve been tested in space and exposed to triple the radiation expected of a year long space journey. Only a minor decrease in longevity, nothing more than a month. Besides, if Pidge was going through that he’d be taking you and Lance with him.” He stretched out with a groan. “No, it’s probably more likely one of your theories Lance. Hopefully he’ll tell us the real reason when he’s ready.”

The conversation dissolved into more casual topics after that, what they could get up to in the week Shiro was gone that he’d never usually let them do, what kind of secret telepathic conversations Allura had with the ship’s mice, right down to their honest opinions on Coran’s moustache. 

“Honestly I’m just so impressed he can grow it that thick.” Lance rubbed his upper lip thoughtfully. “Mine always grows in so patchy.”

“You do that and I’ll probably puke,” Keith muttered, but any retorts were cut off by a loud gurgle from his stomach. 

“Looks like it’s about time for lunch, for once it’s not me that remembered first,” Hunk laughed. “Any requests guys? We still have some fresh food from that market we stopped by the other day.”

“Those weird purple apple things. Pie form.”

“And can you deep fry those things you made last time? The yellow ones.”

Hunk dragged himself upright. “Which ones?”

“I unno, whatever it was it tasted like a chicken did it with bottle of orange soda. Closest thing I’ll get to chinese buffet out here.” Lance kicked up his legs onto the vacated seat. “You’re a godsend by the way man. I don’t know how long I could eat that goop until I went nuts.”

The gentle giant let out another laugh and grabbed the box he’d left by the bay door. “You could always show your appreciation by helping you know.”

Lance flopped back dramatically. “Weird ingredients. Too many dishes. So much. Effort.”

“Have it your way princess.”

“That’s princess  _ Lance _ .”

“Fine,  _ princess Lance _ .” Hunk’s voice turned into an eerily accurate impression of Allura.  _ “ _ I shalt prepare thine feast for you oh fairest one. By the way,” his voice returned to normal, “did you guys know Shiro was such a fan of Fermonite squash?” Hunk held up a vegetable that looked like a potato trying to grow out the middle of a zucchini. “He got me to pack him a whole dozen on top of everything else I prepped for him. Last time I cooked them for you guys I thought it was a resounding ‘meh’ across the board. I guess not. He must be nuts about them.” 

“Oh my god…” a clap of metal broke the conversation as Pidge slammed her laptop shut. They’d completely forgotten she was even there. Her eyes were locked on the gourd in Hunk’s fist. 

“He’s not… no way…”

“He’s not what?” Keith eyed her with caution.

“I… I’ve got to find Shiro… He can’t... ”

“Later,” she said, rushing from the room so fast her laptop lay abandoned at Keith’s side. The three boys stared at the doorway after her.

“What was that all about?” asked Lance.

“Dunno,” said Hunk. “Maybe she secretly likes those squash too.”

 


	2. I Will Knot do It on the Ship

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> its finally time to start the sin in here

Pidge had disappeared in an instant, leaving only a warm spot on the couch and a knot of curdling dread in Keith’s stomach. There was something about the disbelief on her face, the way she’d run off without even giving them the slightest idea what she knew that had him fearing for the worst. Shiro had only returned from the dead a few months earlier, and they’d already almost lost him twice since then. He had no idea what he’d do if it happened again. 

_ It’s not going to happen again. _

_ I’m not letting it. _

Lance and Hunk on the other hand, seemed to remain blissfully unaware.

“Y’know what I think it is,” said Lance, “maybe she found out there’s a limit to how many Fermonite squash you can eat before your ears turn purple. I dunno, either that or the shape just reminded her of some crazy gadget she’s working on. She seemed pretty zoned out the whole time we were talking.”

“Nah, knowing Pidge it’s more likely it made her think to do a Fermi estimate and realize something.” Hunk sighed and continued on at Lance’s perplexed look. “Y’know, approximate random stats based on what you know to do a calculation. Like the piano tuning problem.”

“Hunk, I love you buddy, but I can’t understand a word you say when you go all nerd on me.” The two continued on with their conspiracy bromance as Keith picked up the laptop beside him. The standby light was still flashing. 

“Lance. C’mon man, we’re supposed to know for risk evaluations on missions. Like estimating resources on a planet or enemy ships.”

“What if,” Keith swallowed, “what if she found out something about that planet Shiro didn’t account for. What if he’s walking right into a trap?”

There was a scraping of vinyl against canvas as Lance scooted over and draped an arm around Keith’s shoulder. For once Keith’s ignored the offending limb. 

“And you’re thinking she probably left something about it open on her computer?”

“Only one way to find out…” and with that Keith turned on the screen 

* * *

Shiro was still down in the cargo bay packing when PIdge appeared. He’d gathered the essentials: water, flameless heat sources, emergency radio, as well as the large, generous boxes of fresh and cooked food prepared by Hunk. A pair of the oddly shaped squashes sat poking out of the top of one, to which he sighed at.  _ Well, I’m going to learn to love these by the end of this _ , he thought to himself. He’d just opened his rucksack to double check his first aid supplies when a finger attached to a small, irate paladin shoved itself in his face. 

“You’re not leaving. You’re insane for thinking this will work.”

“Woah, Pidge,” he said putting a bottle of pills down and gently pushing her hand away from nose picking territory. “Slow down. Why are you-”

“I  _ know _ Shiro. I  _ know  _ what’s going on here. You’ve done a good job at hiding it but I can’t let you do this.” 

“What are you talking about?” But even as he asked a vein of ice formed in his chest.

“How long has it been?” she continued. “It’s got to have been at least 18 months, probably a bit more even, if I remember the timeline for Dad and Matt.”

_ She couldn’t have, there was no way she had… _ He rose to his full height, letting their sheer difference in size weigh on her in the hopes of silencing her, as it it wouldn’t be true if she didn’t speak it aloud, but she kept on speaking, hands gesturing about wildly as she began to advance on him.

“And then there’s the time you’ve spent in space. Sure, that shouldn’t amount much but maybe you’ve lost another two months there as well. And then there’s this sudden insistence and your rejection of Keith joining you. Normally you’d be fine with him tagging along on a mission, even if it was dangerous because you know you’d both have each other’s backs through everything, no matter what. But why refuse as hard as you did? If it was the other way around it’d make no sense. There’d be no way you’d consider taking me instead of Keith. No Shiro, there’s only one reason why you’re doing this, and it’s not to fight the Galra.”

“Pidge,” he warned, stepping forward to try to overshadow her even as he felt a stitch twang in his side. “Stop right there.”

“It’s starting up already, isn’t it?” she pointed at his arm, unconsciously having gripped his side. “It’s the pre-cramps right before it begins. You’ve got ‘til tomorrow tops before it’s full blown.”

“Pidge,  _ please _ !” Shiro cried. There was desperation in his voice. 

“It’s your heat, isn’t it? You’re an Omega Shiro.”

Neither of them moved. Shiro wasn’t even sure if either of them  _ breathed _ as Pidge glared up at him with her fierce little eyes. He’d done everything to hide it, heck, he didn’t think anyone but the nurses at the garrison even knew the truth but here she was, staring him down and splitting him open. Splitting open...

_ No, no, DO NOT START WITH THAT LINE OF THOUGHT _ , he screamed at himself. It was already starting. He sank back against the stack of tent and camping supplies. There was no point in hiding it anymore.

“What did it? What gave me away in the end?”

Pidge jerked a thumb at the box of produce. “You’re bringing a dozen of those?  _ Really? _ After the four of us almost ralphed up our servings the last time Hunk cooked it? You’ve got one use in mind for them and it’s not for eating. I can’t believe I even thought about it, I’ve been around Lance too much these days.”

Shiro groaned and ran a hand through his forelock. “I should have known… Hunk was surprised too, but I mean, if I had any choice I wouldn’t but if I get that desperate I’d rather it be something I at least know isn’t poisonous.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me though.” Pidge tugged one out of the box and weighed it in her hands. The size difference between them and the gourd did not go unnoticed by Shiro. His insides fluttered slightly. “These things are huge…”

“I think it’s better if we don’t talk about what my heats do to me Pidge.” They were big alright, but with a few days of need his body wouldn’t protest at the thought of them. Far from it…

“Good, because unlike the other boys I don’t need to picture anything to do with your junk.” The squash was thrown back in the bin with disgust. “So you’re seriously going to run off by yourself to keep this from everyone? Aren’t you overreacting a little bit?”

“Maybe…” Shiro sighed and continued scratching his head. “But I mean, them finding out their leader is an Omega? What kind of confidence are they going to have in me then?”

“Shiro, they trust you so much…”

“But how much of that is because they think I’m an Alpha?” Doubt was taking over now. “They’ve only known me with suppressants in my system, what happens if we’re in battle and I can’t lead them? What if we can’t form Voltron?”

“Shiro, I seriously doubt the status your gonads determine if we can form Voltron or not.”

He sighed. “I know it shouldn’t, but it’s just… a thought that’s always there. Even Zarkon knows it is… I’m not best for the Black Lion.”

Pidge crouched down next to him. Her initial parental outrage had disappeared, replaced with a soft hand against his knee.  “Yes you are, because you’re our friend. We’re here for you, through whatever.”

Somehow a smile managed to crack it’s way through onto his face. 

“Thanks Pidge.”

“Now about your heat. I don’t see why you need to leave the castle to deal with it. Can’t we just have Allura and Coran help us find an empty wing for you to stay in until it’s over? Heck, with some help from them and Hunk we might be able to synthesize some suppressants for you so you don’t have to go through this again.”

“I guess,” he said, chewing his lip, “but I’m not sure I want the others knowing about this. Maybe if I could keep a pod in orbit around the ship? Have them think I’m still gone but I’ll be close by in case of a Galra emergency?”

“Why don’t you want them to know? They wouldn’t judge you for i-”

“ _ TAKASHI SHIROGANE, WHAT THE FUCKING HELL!!” _

Three silhouettes stood in the doorway: Keith stood at the front, teeth gritted, shoulders hunched like an angry cat with a sheepish Hunk trailing on behind him. Lance took up the rear, his face oddly befitting someone ready to sit down and watch some juicy reality TV drama. Keith crossed the room in five strides, his fists balled up so tightly it looked as though he might crush the laptop held in one of them. 

“ _ YOU’RE IN HEAT?” _

“I… I... ” he stammered.

Pidge looked at him helplessly.

“ _ YOU’RE GOING INTO HEAT AND YOU WEREN’T GOING TO TELL ANY OF US?” _

He tried to swallow down the dryness in his mouth. “I… how?”

“ _ Does that really matter right now?”  _ Keith shrieked. “You wanted to go on a scouting mission  _ while in heat? _ Are you fucking crazy?”

“Well actually,” piped in Lance. “He was just lying about the scouting mission so he could go off and be horny all by himself. Also,  _ dude _ , how the heck are you an Omega, you’re so jacked man.”

It was Pidge’s turn to groan. “Lance, it’s called proper diet and exercise. Maybe if you tried it you could meet your crazy standards as well. And how  _ did _ you all…” her voice trailed off as she stared at the computer in Keith’s hands. 

“You didn’t…  _ Hunk _ , you didn’t tell them my password, did you?”

“Well…” the other paladin tugged his fingers sheepishly. “We all thought maybe you’d run some numbers and found out something was wrong with the planet Shiro was headed to. I swear, we were just going to look at the specs you had up and try to figure it out. We had no idea you still had the tracer feed up and running, and then you just started yelling everything out at him.”

“ _ Shit _ ,” uttered Pidge. 

Shiro raised an eyebrow. “Tracer?”

Hunk clapped his hands together and bent down in apology.“We were just going to leave one with you in case you got kidnapped by the Galra! I swear we didn’t plant it to find out about this! We just didn’t want you to die.”

“Well, it’s a good thing we did do it,” said Lance. He’d been lounging in the doorway since the arrival of the other three, but now made his way to join the rest. “It was a stupid plan. I mean, what were you going to do when you were there in raging heat? Fuck yourself on a… oh my god the double-ended-dildo squash…”

“And if I wasn’t planning on eating those ever again before I’m definitely not now,” Pidge mumbled.

“Look,” Shiro pleaded. “I didn’t want you guys to worry, I thought it’d just be easier this way if I just-”

“If you just  _ what _ Shiro?” Keith leaned forward until his nose was level with Shiro’s. His heart was racing as Keith glared down at him, he half expected Keith to scruff him by the collar and pull him closer, until his lips were grazing against his ear as he growled into it. He had to fight back the whine, close off the thoughts filling his head as Keith’s scent grew stronger in his nose. “You thought you should just leave without any of us? Go off on your own and have us all worried sick whether or not you’d come back alive? The way you were selling this it was like you were trying to hide the fact you were walking in to your execution, and you expect us to be  _ calm _ about that?”

“I…” Shiro tried, but his brain remained in its semi-fogged state, words to soothe Keith just out of reach of his tongue.

Lance stepped forward to pull Keith back a bit, he felt a surge of gratitude for the other boy. “Let’s be frank Shiro, your plan was shit. What were you going to do if fingers and vegetables weren’t enough? You might have let some alien fuck you, and  _ believe me _ , that is something you’d probably regret. You’d be better off here where we can look after you, I mean… me or Keith…”

“ _ No. _ ” he said, rather sharper than he’d intended. Lance visibly winced.

“But, since we’re…”

“No. Lance,” he forced a smile at the other, all lips and no eyes. “I appreciate the thought but I don’t need any help dealing with this, especially not from either of you. Now if you don’t mind I’m going to finish packing.”

It was silent as he stood. Pidge and Hunk were looking between him, Keith and Lance in disbelief, Hunk’s hand partway outstretched as if to intervene. He was glad he didn’t. He’d take a radio,  _ hell _ , he’d take this tracer if it meant they’d let him deal with this in peace. It just wasn’t worth staying here, not with the hassle, not with what it could cause. 

_ “Shiro.” _ His arm was jerked back, the grip tight but loosening abruptly as he spun around.

Lance.

“Shiro. Don’t go.” There was no demand there, no force behind the words. He knew if he refused, or swatted the hand away Lance would let him go without further fight. Still, his stomach knotted at the other’s face, at how his brow wrinkled in concern and his mouth - so often smiling - was downcast. All the while his fingers still looped around Shiro’s arm in the gentlest of touches.

Another hand grasped his shoulder, this one stronger, digging into the flesh even as the digits shook. Possessive... scared… even tender as the thumb slid down the line of his neck. Keith was staring up at him, his eyes flashing with pure refusal, lips curled into a pout. For an instant everything stood still, Shiro’s senses flooding his ears and alighting his skin. Two friends… no, two Alphas holding onto him so differently, but also the same. His throat felt dry under their gaze. Even without words he could feel his resolve slipping, their touches speaking louder than he’d thought they ever could. 

“Shiro,” repeated Keith. “You’re not going. Stay here.”

He sucked in a breath. Keith’s hand slid down from his shoulder to bicep, Lance’s squeezed his wrist ever so slightly.

He nodded.

"Okay."

* * *

It had started up part way through dinner. A heat had begun to build in his stomach, entirely unrelated to the salad and chilled noodles Hunk had prepared that night. The speed it came on shocked him so much his spoon clattered the ground as the first rolling wave hit him. Pidge had jumped to his side immediately, rubbing his back and guiding him by the hand from the hall. As they hurried out Keith and Lance jumped to their feet ready to follow, only to be blocked by Hunk, their eyes following his every step until out of sight. 

He’d been given a room in the lower wing, away from where the other paladins slept. It would be easier this way, being kept apart from them. Pidge sighed as she settled him down on the edge of the bed. They’d moved his supplies up here from the hanger and the presence of one Fermonite squash hadn’t escaped her sharp eyes. Shiro shrugged sheepishly at her and her crossed arms.

“Okay...” she started. “Hunk’s stocked you up on food that should last for at least the first 4 days, more if you don’t get… experimental with them. I’ll be leaving this tablet and your communicator with you the whole time so if anything urgent comes up you can reach us. Hunk, Allura, Coran and I will trade off who’s on call for you.” She took in Shiro’s cocked eyebrow. “We figured that it’s best if Lance and Keith keep out of that since they’re the only other non-suppressed or alien people on the ship. Thought you’d agree too.”

“Yeah, for the best,” he grunted, clutching his V-line as the muscles beneath twitched. His slick hadn’t begun to run yet but it was only a matter of time now. “Thanks Pidge.”

“You’d be doing the same for me.”

“True…”

The door whooshed open and Hunk strode in, his arms laden in towels and little juice pouches. 

“Figured you might want some things if it gets a bit messy in here. Also heard some Omegas like to nest so I got an extra half dozen if it’s something you turn out to do. Keith and Lance send their best, they understand why it’s just me and Pidge looking after you. I’ll keep them posted so they don’t worry too much.”

He felt a surge of affection for Hunk. “Thank you. I really wish I didn’t have to drag you all into this.”

“Hey, it is what it is man, and I mean, in some ways it’s kind of good it happened. Coran’s going to help me analyze my implant and see if we can isolate and synthesize any of the compounds.”

“Your implant?” Shiro looked at him, head tilting in bemusement. “But wouldn’t Pidge’s be better?”

“Some Beta implant sticks have combination Alpha and Omega suppressants. If the garrison was using one of those brands we’ll be able to make suppressants for all of us if we’re really out here for the long haul. ‘Sides,” he shrugged, “I’d get nowhere near the same symptoms if I went off it like you guys. Don’t want to make Pidge go through it too if she doesn’t want to.”

“If it was legal to spay myself I would,” Pidge said flatly, turning down the sheets and placing a bottle of water on the bedside table. 

Shiro couldn’t help but chuckle at that. “Well, I hope it works Hunk. I don’t want to be out of commission every month and leave the rest of you with a man down.”

“Nah, it can’t be helped dude. We’ve got your back no matter what happens. Speaking of…” the larger paladin sniffed the air. “I think we’d better clear out of here before you go full blown.”

“H-how?” Shiro asked. He still felt in his right mind, he shouldn’t be sending out pheromones.

Hunk tapped his nose “Still a Beta but I can smell things, especially now that my implant’s out. It’s not much right now but that’s sure to change. I’m going to reroute the vents in the ship a bit so all the air from your room gets sent down to an abandoned cell. Make it easier on Keith and Lance. Anyway, see you on the other side man.” A huge palm clapped on Shiro’s back and Pidge shuffled forward to give him a quick squeeze goodbye. 

“I’ll be first shift tonight, don’t be afraid to call.” She readjusted her glasses and stood up.

“Good luck Shiro.”

“I’ll be fine guys,” he laughed. “Really. Don’t worry.”

* * *

He was not fine. His whole body was aflame, like every limb was waking up from being asleep and each motion, every object that touched his skin, burned as if feeling for the first time. It had barely been hours since he’d been left alone and already he was wishing for someone else beside him. Their touch… he didn’t know how or why, but it felt like them beside him would be the only thing that could ground him, cool this fever running through him. 

His pants had been discarded, long since removed as his legs trembled and the warm dampness had slid down his legs. Shiro lay with his face pressed into the covers, his entrance pulsing with a dull heat as he fought against its call. He’d only lived through this once before, when he presented, the long-distant memory just a haze of worried faces. All he remembered was waking up in the nurse’s office to his mother’s arms, an IV and pills in his system quenching the symptoms before another student could lose resolve. He understood now why they’d put an end to it so quickly. It was a hunger that overtook his entire body, screaming for pleasure as if it might die without. 

With a choked sob he slipped his hand between his legs, the soft grazing of his thumb against his shaft and balls already sending waves of pleasure washing over him. They moved onwards, sliding easily along his perineum, a thin coat of fluid coating them as they squeezed between his thighs to reach his hole. The ring of muscle twitched as he brushed against it, a fresh contraction of his insides pushing another volume of slick from within and a cry from his lips. It screamed at him, begged him to be filled. 

The  first finger was accepted with open arms, slipping inside so  effortlessly Shiro had to press another beside it to be sure it had  truly gone in. The stretch already felt amazing. He raised his hips,  adjusting his position so as to better navigate inside himself. With a  bit of working he pushed them in to the second knuckle, and with a  little more had them fully inside, slowly stroking his walls. They  squeezed around him, tensing and releasing as he experimented. Spreading  his fingers only provided brief relief, but curling,  _ oh GOD curling _ .  He bit the sheets as he rolled the tips against the smooth muscle  within. Each time gave an intense jolt of feeling rocketing from his  insides to his whole body. Fleeting, but exactly what he needed. 

In his search of more a third finger joined in, quickly copying the same  motion as he angled himself in hopes of striking that sweet spot yet  again. He was close, he could feel it. His cock was weeping against the  bed, a small wet spot forming from it's swollen head, a little more  spotting each time he struck home inside. Slick squelched inside him,  coating his thighs anew each time the thrust his fingers inside. _ So close, but not enough... More... _

His  vision was hazy, dulled from his heat, but even so he could still see  the ball of black fabric laying discarded by his face. Just his ass...  it wasn't enough, not on his own. Fighting the whine rising in his  throat he reached out with his other arm and grasped the glove.  Desperate times called for desperate measures, and surely Shiro was  desperate now. Keeping his hand firmly inside himself he maneuvered -  not without effort - the glove onto his prosthetic one. A thin strand of  drool stretched broke as he released his teeth from the wrist hole,  glove now in place, even if on the reverse hand. 

Shiro grabbed  his cock roughly. The metal... the glove... all serving to detach  himself from the fist now pumping his shaft. Eyes closed, face pressed  into the mattress he imagined it to be someone else. That it was someone  else bending him over, their eyes on his sweating back, running their  hand against his torso as the stroked him off. The stiff fabric of their  glove pushing him further and further to the brink than their soft  hands ever could.

_ "You like this, don't you Shiro?" _

_ "You  love this, you love fingering yourself being watched, love putting on a  show until you're so hard you're begging to be fucked. Well, guess  what..." _

His hips were shaking now, fingers losing  their rhythm inside as he continued on. It was as if his hand had a mind  of it's own, twisting and teasing him as every nerve in his body  burned. He wanted to come... he wanted release... he wanted...

_ "... we want you." _

Orgasm  wracked through his body, the pool of heat building up inside of him  shooting forth across the sheets and down his hand. His insides jolted,  squeezing around his fingers so tightly he thought they might break as  he rode it out, cry muffled through the fabric in his mouth. For an  instant everything stood still, white flashing before his eyes, before he slumped into the sheets. 

He could feel the brain fog  clearing, his mind returning to being his own, even if only briefly.  Sleep seemed so appealing now, his lashes already flickering closed as he fought to retain these few minutes of sanity. Shiro gave in to the weight of his body sinking into the bed, already numb to the damp of his collective fluids, and slept.  


 

  
  
  
  
  



	3. Lancey Hears the Do

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Drinking game: take a shot every time my biology nerd shows

“So if I understand this correctly… Shiro is overheating… due to his reproductive organs? Can we not cool him down in some way?”

“Not exactly Allura…” Keith tugged at his bangs and groaned for what felt like the umpteenth time. Alteans seemed to remain incredibly dense to the whole concept of heats. “It’s like a phase he has to go through… or no wait, maybe not a phase… more like a stage… or a cycle...”

“Geez Keith, you suck at this.” Lance was poking at his breakfast, equally as frustrated with Allura’s slow uptake if his slumping posture meant anything. Then again, he might just be tired.

“You’re welcome to try and do better, _Lance_ ,” he hissed.

“I don’t have to, I’ve got Hunk.” A gob of food goo splattered onto the table as he whirred his spoon at the engineer. “Hunk, take it away.”

“Well, Allura, there are different genders of humans that have different reproductive roles. Shiro’s an Omega, which is the main child-bearing type. At a certain point in his hormonal cycle his body enters a state of extreme sensitivity where he has an intense urge to breed, that’s what’s going on now. He’s also releasing pheromones that make others want to mate with him, which is why Pidge and I are the only ones who can go see him unaffected. It’ll last around a week, but if I can make suppressants we can regulate his hormones so he’ll never have to go through it again.” 

“Yeah,” Lance said through a mouthful of goo, “whaf he said.”

“I see… so in this state he’s effectively defenseless and unable to perform his duties as a paladin… my, my. This will be an issue if it persists in the long term.” She rubbed her chin thoughtfully. “Human reproduction is far more complex than I expected.”

With a tremendous swallow Lance emptied his mouth. “Well, how do Alteans do the do?" 

“The what?” Allura blinked.

“Y’know, knocking boots, the horizontal tango, making baby gravy and biscuits…”

“You did _not just_ ,” moaned Keith. “He mean sex Allura. How do Alteans make babies?”

“Oh.” The look of extreme concern on her face softened slightly. “It’s simple really. At the appropriate lunar cycle a mother and father remove their gametes and combine them together in an incubator. It develops for some length of time in the incubator before exiting as an Altean infant. Truly a wonderful process,” she smiled.

“So what you’re saying is… all Alteans are test tube babies.” Hunk finished for Lance and Keith’s benifit.

“Oh, certainly not. A test tube would be far too small for them to develop in.”

“But the gametes don’t combine inside one of the parents.”

“I should think not! How would they all survive?” That all too familiar wrinkled of confusion had returned to Allura’s brow. “Surely, humans do not carry their embryos inside themselves?”

“Finally,” came a listless voice, “someone else who understands how squicky that is.” Pidge had finally emerged from her room, looking even more worse for wear than usual. Keith didn’t think he’d seen her this wrung out since Hunk and Lance had dragged her along into a horror movie marathon back at the garrison. She slid into a chair with all the grace of that first gob of ketchup from the bottle and pulled a bowl of food towards herself.

“Rough night?” Hunk asked.

“The worst. Shiro kept making noises all through the night… _that kind_. I kept waking up whenever he started getting… super vocal, which was a lot. I don’t think I got more than an hour and a half of sleep…” Pidge was already drooping dangerously close to faceplanting into her goo. Keith nudged her upright again, half formed sound bytes of Shiro’s moans now running through his ears.  

“Maybe you should take a nap today,” he said. _Would Shiro’s voice be low and raspy, or high and pitched? Was he calling out for anyone as he coped on his own?_

“I probably should…”

“Well, I’ll be taking over ShiroWatch for you today, so tonight you can catch up.” Pidge slid the drive across the table like it was a bag of dog poop, clearly glad to be rid of it. “Coran’s already helped me extract my suppressant pellet so we’re going to test its composition this morning. Maybe if we’re lucky we’ll be able to get Shiro on something before the week’s up.”

“Thanks Hunk. And Allura, I’m sorry in advance for what you and Coran will probably end up hearing.”

“... Thank you?” Allura’s earrings swung as she gave the paladins a look. “Will Keith and Lance not be joining the rest of us in watching Shiro?”

“Ah…”

“Well…” Keith was fairly certain his face was turning red. Hopefully the confused stare-down between Hunk and Pidge was enough to distract the others from it. Not that he _wanted_ to listen in on Shiro… except he kind of, maybe, really wanted to. Or at least just a sample. _For science_.

“They’re Alpha’s, Allura. It’s not exactly that safe.” 

“This is related to the gendering process is it not? Don’t humans have additional ones?” 

“It’s more of a spectrum,” Pidge chimed in. Lance gave her a surprised look. “What? Just because I payed attention in genetics and biology unlike _some people here_ …”

“Okay, okay, calm your circuits Pidge. But seriously, it’s a spectrum?” 

“Yeah, it is.” Hunk pushed a cup of the closest thing to coffee towards Pidge and took over. “It’s all about hormones when you’re still an embryo. We all start out with the same bits in utero and then your genes and mom’s hormones determine what you’re going to be. Alphas start the transition to… uh well... penises the earliest, followed by Betas. Omegas go through it really late… like in the second term, some even don’t go through it. That’s why they can have kids, because by the time stuff’s started swapping over to male bits they’ve already made some eggs.”

“Wait, _actually?_ ” Gobsmacked was a good look on Lance. “So like… that’s the whole difference being an Omega and and Alpha? When your balls drop?” 

“If you want to be crude, yeah, that’s it Lance.”

“Awww, Pidge. So yours dropped super duper late and that’s why you’re so grouchy about having an all access subscription to Shiro’s one man show.”

“If you keep making these horrible cracks about my _genuine worst nightmare_ I’ll shred your jacket as you sleep. And they never did, thanks for reminding me Lance. It’s _so nice_ of you." 

“Oh… right. Sorry, Pidge.” He shrunk back in his chair, one of the few times Keith remembered seeing an actually humble Lance.

“May I… is there a reason that’s undesirable?” Allura asked.

Hunk waited for Pidge’s approval before replying, noticeably softer and more serious than before. “Pidge is a subclass of Omega, Allura. There’s a slang term -Femta- for it. She only has traditionally female parts, which is why the different pronouns. But it also makes her more vulnerable. Alphas sometimes target them because they’re more fertile and can be more easily forced when in heat. So, well, you can see why heats are a bit of an uncomfortable subject for her.”

“I see.” Allura reached out across the table, her hand sliding to the outer reaches of Pidge’s place setting. “I had no idea…”

“There’s that, and to top it off now that we’re in space look at the choice in Alphas I have.” A remarkably loud snort escaped Pidge’s tiny frame. “I mean… Lance and Keith? As much as I hate to admit it maybe Shiro has the right idea with those squashes.”

“Fermonite squash?” Allura said.

“Yeah?”

“They have quite the volume of capsaicin in them. It can be an irritant to sensitive tissues, I hope he is aware of this.”

“Oh god…” The four of them exchanged horrified looks.

“Do you think he has?”

“Holy fuck I hope not… imagine… up there…”

“I’m going!” And before anyone could stop her Pidge sprinted out of the room, pseudo-coffee sloshing from her cup before Shiro could make the mistake of shoving, for all extents and purposes, a giant chilli pepper up his ass.

* * *

 

“Hunkkkk, can we please do something more exciting?”

The morning had been painfully slow. With Shiro out of commission and Pidge back in her room sleeping they’d scraped training for the day. Despite that fact, Keith had decided to carry on himself, leaving Lance to either skulk around the ship alone, or be here, watching Hunk pour over a bunch of vials and screens with Coran.

“Well, you think you can find isolating and making a cure for Shiro’s heat exciting?”

“... Does it involve lasers or robots?”

“Well actually,” Coran piped up, “there’s a laser in the system to determine the chemical structures in Hunk’s sample, and the system is automated by-”

“I meant _cool_ ones Coran.”

“Depends on your definition of cool, this machine is pretty nifty if you’re in the right mind.”

“ _Clearly not_.” He groaned and started rolling vials and stir rods around the counter. Somehow the strange line markings on the monitor were interesting to Coran and Hunk, but hell if he knew what they meant. After a few more minutes of watching the two of them pour over the data (his vials had been confiscated), he broke the silence.

“So Hunk, any news?”

“Some, but not what we were hoping for. There’s a few steroids in there that can suppress Alpha hormones, and I recognize some other ones that maintain homeostasis, but so far I haven’t been able to recognize any Omega ones. Doesn’t mean they’re not there, but they might be in even lower levels than I thought…”

“Soooo, what you’re saying is Shiro’s still going to be out of commission.”

"Oh crap that reminds me," a pair of headphones were swiped off the table and pressed to Hunk's ears. After several seconds he nodded, mouth curled into an expression somewhere along the lines of Lance’s mom when she would walk in on him making cheese puff towers, and put them down. Coran and Lance looked at him expectantly.

"Well, what was that?"

"Shiro's doing about as well as can be expected. Pidge was right man, there's only so much you can take of it before you get majorly weirded out."

"On a scale of 1 to walking in on your parents having sex in your room how scarringly awkward is it?"

"Somewhere around waking up in the night unsure if your roommate is jacking off next to you or not." 

"Ouch," Lance winced. "That's harsh man."

"Call it like I hear it Lance. The feed’s there in case he needs help but so far it's either been him sleeping or... other stuff. I suggested to Pidge we get some voice recognition software running on the audio, y'know, to filter out all the stuff that's not him asking for us. She's just got to figure out the sounds that are least likely to come up when he's coping. Hopefully we can have it up and running by tonight so no ones kept up by his noises any more."

"Pidge'll probably do three all nighters if that means she doesn't have to deal with it again by the looks of it. Dude, I haven't seen her looking that traumatized since we watched 4bia together."

"Yeah, which is why I want to synthesize this stuff as soon as I can. She's seriously terrified of going through heats, and Shiro's beating himself up about his. Oh," the computer gave another ping.

"Hunk, it found another molecule. Look familiar to you at all?"

As the other two diverted their attention to the strange ball and stick model rotating about on the screen (how the hell Hunk hadn't already been shortlisted for the Nobel prize Lance had no idea. The dude did biochemical engineering as a FALLBACK before entering the garrison) Lance leaned forward to inspect the audio feed scrolling across Hunk's tablet. It wasn't dead silent, like he’d expect if Shiro was napping or reading peacefully. Instead there were regular rhythmic peaks every few seconds, snoring maybe? He shot a quick glance at Hunk and Coran, and, satisfied that they were still engrossed with whatever molecule it was, slipped the headphones on.

The sound hit him immediately, the wind leaving his lungs as Shiro’s voice flooded his ears. Not his regular voice, and definitely not snoring like he’d been expecting. _Full on_ moans. He’d heard Shiro make these types of sounds in training before, even battles, but nothing, _nothing_ like this. These grunts were entirely different. The pitch was higher, more desperate, all the anger and pain of battles absent from them. It was pure need, so intense Lance could practically see him before his eyes. Sheets rustling as his body twisted on top of them, Shiro’s breath gasping and catching… he wasn’t sure if he was imaging it or not… but he swore he could hear a faint slapping as well.

He swallowed, painfully aware of the sudden erection straining in his pants right now. _Would Shiro be stroking himself right now, his cock leaking onto his bed or stomach as he coaxed himself to climax? Or… would he…_ Lance sucked in a breath. _Would he be fingering himself? Spreading and thrusting into his ass wishing it was something else inside him? Something like…_

“Hey Lance? Lance?”

He nearly fell off his stool he jerked back so fast, tablet sliding precariously close to the edge of the table.

“Is Shiro still sleeping right now?”

_Oh thank GOD Hunk didn’t know._

“Ah… yep! He’s fine!”

A drawn out “ _Aaaaah~!”_ filled the earbuds. Lance ripped them out immediately.

 _“TOTALLY QUIET ACTUALLY!!_ I’m… I’m bored I’m gonna go find Keith. See you nerds! _”_

And, praying that his jacket would cover his groin, Lance ran.

* * *

Training was going horribly. Normally sword fighting was something that could calm him down. Every last fibre of his mind was used to parry, thrust and dodge, to outthink the opponent and predict their every move until he could needle out an opening and attack. He could empty every thought when he did this, and yet today he couldn’t. His blows didn’t land right, his footwork sloppy and reckless. Again and again he was fighting to block attacks he’d set himself up for, the drone coming at him cold, perfect, error free.

“Computer, end training.”

Keith looked up to the source of the voice. _Lance._ He shot the other boy a grimace, not because he didn’t want to stop – he’d been debating that for the past five minutes now – but because it’d been Lance who’d made the call for him.

Sweat dribbled down his forehead and into his eyes, Keith wiped it away and leaned forward on his sword. “What do you want?” Lance could stop him, but he wasn’t about to be the one to cross the room to talk. Luckily - or unluckily – he seemed happy to make his way over to Keith.

“Hey, can we talk?” He seemed anxious about something.

“Sure. Go for it.”

“Are you… worried about Shiro?”

Keith had to control his eyebrows from flying up in surprise. Lance had hit the nail on the head, but he tried to underplay the other’s insight.

“Are you?”

“Yeah, I think I really am. I’m not sure if you feel this way too, but I hate being useless. Pidge figured it all out and managed to talk him down, Hunk’s being the gorgeous nerd he is and is making suppressants for Shiro with Coran and Allura, and us… we’re just sitting around waiting for this to all end.”

His sword rasped along the deck as Keith slipped forward off its hilt, a small sound, but his recovery wasn’t fast enough to escape Lance.

“I think I get that,” he said cautiously.

“It’s just, every time Hunk and Pidge talk about how he’s doing there’s that face, you know, _that face_ , like, the one your mom makes when you ask if the cat’s going to be okay after being mauled in a fight and she can’t tell you everything. I know it’s tough for him, you can see it on their faces how hard it is for them to see him like this.”

If there wasn’t a knot in Keith’s stomach there definitely was now. He’d missed Shiro almost as soon as he was gone, he hadn’t even realized he’d jumped up to help him when he keeled over until Hunk was pulling him back. He hated this, being unable to be beside him. Unable to help him…

Lance was pacing now, fingers scrunching the fabric of his sleeves as he fought to form words. “I just… I’m really worried about him Keith. This is just day one and it’s only supposed to get more intense from here out.”

“But what if he’s used to it?”

“What if he’s not? I… I don’t know if he’ll make it through this week, not without being in serious discomfort.”

The knot was moving now, sliding up Keith’s throat and choking him, even as he fought against it. “He’s strong though, he can beat it…” the words _I know he can_ faltering on his lips.

“Keith, he sounds out of his mind right now, he’s not in control, he’s so desperate he _needs_ someone.”

It was like his heart was trying to tear itself free of his ribs, trying to climb up out of his throat and crawl away. He felt sick, unable to process, even as a small sliver of himself purred. 

_What if he needs you?_

_You could make this all go away_.

“N-no…” he stuttered. “Shiro said he didn’t want us, not for this.”

“Keith, you didn’t hear him! He had no idea how bad this would be!”

His blood ran cold. 

“You… you’ve heard him?”

Lance took a step back. “Y-yes?” He’d recognized his mistake two seconds too late.

“You were listening to him? Listening to him, _like that?_ ” He could hear the grating in his skull as his teeth ground together, see the ring of red around his vision as he advanced on Lance, anger boiling. “How could you…” Lance was cowering now, backing himself further and further against the window-laden wall until Keith was on him, face hairs away, his sword pointing menacingly between the blue paladin’s thighs.

“W-wouldn’t you have too? If the stream was right there?”

He froze.

“I know it was wrong, hell, Keith I know I fucked up there picking up those headphones, but that’s why I’m telling you. I don’t think he’ll manage this on his own. I know he thought he could, we all thought he knew what he was doing, but he doesn’t.” Keith turned his bayard, letting the cool metal of the sword press into Lance’s leg.

“Keith, you know as much as I about Omegas in heat. They go crazy locked up alone, they cope much better when they’re near an Alpha…” 

That was true. If there was one remnant of his middle school health classes Keith remembered it was his teacher describing how Alpha hormones could quench the symptoms of heats. It was why it was so dangerous, so irresponsible to be around Omegas when they started. Even if they begged, insisted, they would be too far out of their own minds to really consent before it was too late, coming out of their haze only after a knot was locked firmly inside them.

“That’s true,” he breathed, and even as his reason screamed at him to stop, that one part of him growled in anticipation. “But… Lance we can’t. We can’t take advantage of Shiro like this. I can’t do that to him.” His bayard fell to the ground.

Hands gripped his shoulders. 

“I know man, as much as part of me would love to, could you imagine facing him after you did that? We’d… we’d be monsters. Keith, Hunk, Coran, Allura, they’d never be able to look at us again, let alone Shiro. What if it destroyed Voltron? 

“Then why are you even bringing this up?” He hated Lance right now. How could he tell Keith about Shiro’s desperation, that he was basically begging to be fucked one second, and then remind him they could tear everything apart? Even without hearing noises Keith could see him writhing in front of his eyes, Shiro so completely out of it, mewling for Keith to fuck him, to slide into him, fill him with his seed. And he could see the look of horror, the tears, the bright red bite mark on Shiro’s neck as he woke and realized what had been done. As much as he wanted there to be, there was no happy ending here.

“I guess I was hoping there could be a way we could help. Do something without claiming him…”

Keith fought to remain focused on the hem of Lance’s shirt, to push back the dark thoughts threatening to overtake him. 

“But there’s no way.”

“What if one of us was just in the room, just let him be around Alpha hormones?”

He shook his head. “As if we’d hold back. Lance, you’re Thirst Central Station how could you think you could look but not touch.”

“Okay but what if I just jerked him off? Nothing with his butt.”

“ _No_!” The creature inside Keith growled. “Like _hell_ I’m letting you do that to him.”

Lance’s nails were digging into him now. “Well, there’s no way I’d let you do it either! I bet you’d jump him the first chance you got if you were alone with him!”

“I know you would for sure, what makes you think I’d let you go near Shiro alone?!”

“Oh yeah, well I don’t trust you with Shiro alone either!”

“There’s no way I’m letting you in the same room as him unless I’m there to keep you in check!”

“Same here!” 

Keith blinked. Their faces were so close together now, he could feel each fleck of spit from Lance’s mouth across his cheeks, count every last pore on his stupid, stupid face. And yet…

“What if… that’s it?” he asked.

  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> we're about to get to the good stuff people, next chapter should be a pure wall of sin coming at you, I just had to get this out of the way. I'm without internet this weekend so I pushed to update this tonight, even if it does mean cutting a little of what I wanted in this chapter back into the next one. 
> 
> Thanks so much for reading all of this, I hope you're enjoying it as much as I am writing it. <3


	4. Hop on Top

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're finally here, Sin City and what have you. Had quite a bit of fun writing this one, hope you enjoy.
> 
> EDIT: This work isn't abandoned, Grad school's just kicking my ass so I'm unlikely to be able to finish the next chapter until around Christmas when all these deadlines calm down. Sorry about the wait guys >

Shiro had decided heats were horrible. First, there was the fact he was always sticky, so much so that Hunk had already needed to replace a locker room’s worth of towels and sheets that he’d been using. He’d been right of course, Shiro would use them, though he didn’t have the heart to tell Hunk that half the time his body was pressed against them, rutting up and down for the sweet friction on his aching body. Then there was his body’s demands. No matter how hard he fought to staunch his voice, to stoically ignore the itch inside himself it only became worse, growing, consuming him until he was splayed out on the bed, legs spread, rear skyward, begging to be fucked as his fingers provided one tenth the satisfaction he needed.

And lastly, lastly, he never felt like himself, not for long. Each orgasm brought only a brief span of relief, a mere half hour before his mind fogged over again, sense leaving him as he repeated this endless cycle.

This was where he was now, recently come and tangled in blankets and towels, a half hearted attempt to mop the sweat and fluids from his body before they returned, a juice pack in hand. There was a knock on the door.

“Shiro?”

“Pidge?” he rasped. He’d shouted himself hoarse long ago.

“No… actually, it’s Keith. I’m here with Lance too.”

His brain was working slower now; it took him several seconds to speak.

“You shouldn’t be here,” he said finally.

“I… we know that Shiro, and we know you probably don’t want to see us, but we had to.”

“Shiro,” Lance’s voice now, “we know this isn’t going well. Pidge and Hunk keep trying to hide the fact from us, saying you’re being super strong but we know it’s hard on you. We’re worried.”

“I’m fine.” It was a lie, they all knew it, but he said it automatically. He was the eldest, the leader, the  _ ‘ _ team dad’ as they sometimes joked. It was his job to be strong for everyone else, to bite down and hide his fears to keep the rest of them at ease.  Even like this he still had to do it.

“But you’re not fine, really? Shiro, you don’t have to lie to us.”

“Keith, I’ll be okay,” he said, wordlessly peeling the sopping glove off his hand and tossing it to the side. “I’m not going anywhere. I won’t die like this.”

“But you’re in pain, aren’t you? This isn’t like you and it’s scaring you. I’m right, aren’t I?”

“Keith.” Shiro sucked in a breath. “It’s not your job to worry about me. I’m ok.”

“So you can worry about everyone else, but we’re not allowed to worry about you? Shiro, that’s not what a team’s supposed to be.”

“He’s right Shiro. Here in space we’re like a family and families don’t let other family members not worry about them when they’re spending a week out of their minds. We weren’t even sure if you would be right now, but judging by your point blank refusal of our horrible momming attempts there’s at least some of the regular you in there right now. So would you just listen to us for a second before you send us away?”

Warmth was starting to trickle back into his cheeks, Shiro bet he only had another ten minutes before he was back in full heat. “Just, make it quick, okay?” He could hear the floorboards squeaking outside and hushed arguing of  ‘you’, ‘no you’. After several seconds of this and something that sounded like a punch Lance spoke up again.

“Okay, you can say no to this and everything, but we –Keith and I – were thinking what if we helped you out… y’know, with that?”

His stomach somersaulted. “You both… with me?” His rationality was screaming at him to refuse point blank yet he continued to listen.

“N-n-no not like that! That’s the whole thing, we wouldn’t be doing anything for ourselves, just helping you out. Third base only, no biting, no claiming, no knots. Just whatever to make you feel good.”

“How are you so sure?”

“Keith zip-tied our belts shut, which by the way, if we can’t get off later Keith you owe me a new pair of pants. Here, Keith get over here,” Shiro heard Keith startle and an electronic ding as his tablet flashed. “Look at the picture we just sent you. They’re totally under lock and key there’s no way we can do anything with them.”

Carefully, so as not to leave smudges on the glass Shiro opened the message. A shot of Lance and Keith’s groins were there, several white plastic zip-ties holding their belts closed and their zippers up to the top too. He couldn’t help but notice there were an extra two on Lance’s, Keith’s doing no doubt. If this wasn’t so serious he would have laughed.

“Shiro, you can say no, we know it’s risky for you. But neither of us want to hurt you during this, we spent ages trying to think if we could do anything for you without doing anything we’d regret. I’ll keep Lance from going too far and he’ll keep me. We can always try it if you want us to, see if the relief is worth it, and if either of us do anything stupid we’ll never touch you again until your heat’s over. I promise.”

“Me too,” Lance echoed.

He could see them both on the other side of the door, Keith no doubt with his forehead pressed against the metal, eyes closed, ears alert for the slightest sound he made. Lance would be beside him, arms crossed, fidgeting, gnawing a hole into his lip as he pretended he wasn’t just as anxious about Shiro’s reply.

He shouldn’t… he really shouldn’t, but their offer weighed heavily against his caution.  _ They said they’d be careful, nothing bad will happen, they’ve agreed  _ together _ on that _ . That now all too familiar heat was beginning to build up inside again, Shiro knows he only has a few more minutes to make a sane decision. No matter what he knows they’ll listen to him, respect his wishes.

A spot of slick began to form beneath him.

“Okay,” he said. “Let’s try.”

* * *

_ Let’s try _ .

Lance felt his mouth go dry at Shiro’s agreement, him and Keith exchanging looks of disbelief as the access panel on the door switched to ‘unlocked’.

“I guess… I guess this is it?” he asked, forcing a chuckle to try and break through the nerves.

“Looks like,” said Keith. “Don’t forget, everything’s for Shiro. We go in, help him come, and get out before we try and go any further.”

“Agreed.”

“Start any funny business and I’ll personally make sure you’re as Femta as Pidge afterwards.”

Lance let out a squeak of terror as the door slides open, hoping to god Keith wasn’t serious about chopping off his schlong.

The first thing that hit him was the smell. Hunk had definitely worked his magic on the air vents, up until now neither he nor Keith had gotten a whiff of Shiro, he was sure of that as Shiro’s scent overtook him. There were notes of the black paladin’s usual musk, that type of sweat that never managed to smell bad, but that was only a piece of it. It was like walking into a spice store where everything smelled like the best parts of the older man, that light mint of his shampoo, the cream he used for his skin, even the mineral oil that lubed his arm. The cloud of it hit his nose and flooded his senses, he found his mouth watering as if he were coming home to fresh baking bread. One look at Keith told him the other Alpha was equally as affected as himself.

Shiro was blinking at them from a nest of towels and blankets, one draped over his head haphazardly as if he’d just woken up. It was so uncharacteristically Shiro and yet so cute, him watching them with mute interest, his cheeks flushed and rosy lips open slightly.

They made their way over to him slowly, Lance holding a weary arm out in front of Keith to keep him from bolting over like he knew he wanted.  The smell was richer beside him, heady and sweet as it tried to clog his mind. He was grateful to have Keith with him now; alone he wasn’t sure he’d be able to act this cautiously. As they sat down on the bed beside him it became painfully obvious Shiro was nude, the very end of his treasure trail disappearing into the mass of white fabric.

_ OhmygodthankyouforthisgodIpromiseIwontfuckthisup. _

He looked to Keith for guidance, but it seemed the other boy was just as clueless as him about how to proceed. Shiro was just looking from one of them to the other, his sharp eyes clouded over.

“S-Shiro…” he stammered, “let us know what you want us to do, okay?”

The black paladin turned to look at him again and it took every image of walking in on his grandparents in the bathroom for Lance to keep from going hard right then and there. The words seemed to take some time to process, Shiro was screwing his eyes up in concentration, and when he did speak it was as if he was forcing himself to get them out.

“I’m going to… lose it… completely… in a second. Just… be gentle… I’ll probably want… inside.” He groaned and the two of them leaned forward to grip his hands in theirs, Keith running a soothing palm up and down his bicep as Shiro fought against his heat with everything he had. “Don’t let me talk you into anything… I won’t be able to…”

“Hey,  hey,” he said, rubbing Shiro’s neck, “We’ve got you. It’ll be okay.”

“That’s right,” Keith breathed. “We’re here for you Shiro, we’re going to look after you even if you can’t.” And with the gentlest of touches he combed Shiro’s forlock from his eyes, smoothing the white strands aside from the sweat beading on his face. The Omega sunk into his palm, letting out a low whine and arching his neck Keithwards.

Before Lance was sure it was happening Keith had closed the gap and kissed him.

At first all he could do was watch, Shiro’s lips unsteady and insistent as Keith pressed his own gently against them, barely opening lest he get overcome. It was a pattern almost, one on the corner, another on the cheek, before he’d return to brush against Shiro’s top lip. Lance found himself leaning in, pressing his own mouth to Shiro’s ear and raining a trail of kisses along his jawbone. The smell was intoxicating this close, Lance catching himself making his way further and further down Shiro’s neck to the nape, pulling back with a jerk as soon as he realized he was sucking the spot where one would leave their mark. Redoubling his focus he returned to Shiro’s face to pepper kisses across his nose and cheeks alongside Keith.

There was a swivel of Shiro’s face and then he was kissing him,  _ kissing Shiro _ . The Omega let out small mewls as his tongue pressed against Lance’s, seeking more contact. Keith’s pattern immediately became clear. With immense restraint he began to move away, sucking and kissing along Shiro’s lip to the corner before trailing down to his chin, quickly circling back at his loud whine of protest. It was all he could do to keep from being wrapped up in the other’s pace.

“Holy shit…” Lance tore his gaze away from Shiro’s face to look at Keith. The other boy’s eyes were locked on where towels met skin. Peeping out from the plush pile was the ruddy head of Shiro’s erection. Keith reached forward, pausing for an instant before tugging the fabric back.

They both sucked in gasps.

“Hot dang…”

“I guess you were right about him being big,” murmured Keith. “Shiro, can I?” A finger traced along the length and Shiro’s back caved into Lance, his head flying back with a cry. He caught the other paladin against his chest, one hand sliding down his hips to rest microns away from Shiro’s cock. The pair of them were frozen, coiled to pounce.

“P-please…"

They moved as one unit; Keith wrapping his fingers around the shaft as Lance threaded his own under and around his balls. There was a low moan of appreciation from Shiro as they began to work on him, Lance taking care of the base as Keith worked his thumb along the top. From his position over Shiro’s shoulder he could suck the man’s collarbone as he watched, relishing every time Shiro’s body trembled under his touch. Under their care he was becoming pliant, leaning more and more of his weight against Lance until the blue paladin had to hook an arm around him to stop his full descent into the mattress.   


As he readjusted his position Lance’s pinky slid across something damp and sticky. Flush rising in his cheeks he leaned forward, jostling Keith’s grip aside.

“Oi!” he shouted.

“ _ Fuck _ , Keith,” he gasped, fingers leaving their hold to slide lower. Shiro whimpered, his legs opening as he reached down, and Lance bent the other man forward in order to catch a glimpse of what lay between them. “Keith, look at him...“ he pressed on further and touched the rim of Shiro’s entrance. 

Just brushing against it had Shiro trembling. 

“God Shiro... you’re so fucking wet…” He pushed against it again, slightly harder, the tip just dipping into the pucker. The effect was notably increased, a noise came from low in Shiro’s chest that had Lance’s whole frame feeling it. Keith’s finger joined Lance’s to trace the rim, a fresh sob wracking Shiro and a new wave of slick sluicing forward and coating their digits. Shiro’s scent had intensified, Lance was finding he needed to breathe through his mouth to keep his mind from clouding over. He nudged Keith’s finger to hold the other’s attention long enough to have him do the same before returning to the more pressing matter. 

Shiro was positively dripping now, his and Keith’s hands spreading the sweet smelling fluid along the sensitive skin of his inner thighs as they continued to rub everywhere except the one place they wanted to touch most.

“More…” he whined, “Lance, Keith… please…”  He was wriggling now, hips trying to dip down on the thumb just touching his asshole. Lance was about to grant his request when Keith jerked Shiro’s leg up, his two fingers spreading the skin of his perineum and pushing Lance’s away from the hole he longed to fill. The other Alpha leaned forward, pushing Shiro and Lance against the mattress until they were chest to chest to back.

“Not yet,” he said with a growl in his voice. Even from his vantage point outside Keith’s gaze, even though he was an Alpha himself Lance felt a shiver run up his spine with the authority in the other’s voice. Keith’s pupils were blown, only a faint rim of violet surrounding the pupils that drew him in like black holes as he leaned closer, his bangs almost brushing against Shiro’s nose. A bead of sweat dripped from his chin and Lance knew Keith’s musk was overtaking Shiro as surely as his own was right now. The scent of an Alpha.   


“What do you want exactly Shiro,” purred Keith as slid a hand up the man’s stomach. “You have to tell us or else we won’t do it.” His nails raked lightly against Shiro’s abs and Lance was acutely aware of every last muscle of Shiro’s back pressing against his mounting erection. 

“F-f-fuck me…” gasped Shiro.

“Ah, ah, ah Shiro,” Keith clucked as he ran his tongue along a collarbone. “You know we can’t do that, at least not with these things.” And then he ground down on Shiro’s cock, pressing the Omega harder against Lance’s frame and he was almost seeing stars as Shiro’s cheeks flexed around his clothed bulge. He wanted this,  _ Shiro _ wanted this so badly. His palm shot upwards, cupping one of Shiro’s pecs and squeezing as he fought to maintain the last recesses of his control. 

“F-fuck me… with your fingers. Both of you, fill me up… fuck me on your hands until I come!”

“Good.” Keith closed the gap and kissed Shiro’s forehead. “That wasn’t too hard now, was it?” His eyes locked onto Lance’s as he sat back up, a smile coiling on his lips. Lance found his hand being tugged back into place, fingerpads pressed against Shiro’s entrance.

Lance licked his lips. “Shiro,” he stuttered, “is it okay if both of us… I mean, we don’t want to hurt you.” But even as he said it the Omega was rutting against them, positively whining in protest.

“It’s okay… I’ve…” he keened as he continued to push himself onto them, “to myself... I want more… it’s not enough…”

“Okay Shiro,” Lance said, and, kissing the man’s neck he pressed in a finger along with Keith. 

Inside Shiro was hot, the Omega’s body easily giving way to them as they sunk in to the first, second, third knuckles and stopping as Shiro let out a long sigh. Lance made a mental note to always keep his nails trimmed if for this reason and this reason alone. He moved first, rubbing the tip of his finger against the moist, velvety walls and was rewarded with a sharp gasp. Keith - not one to fall behind -  joining him quickly, the two of them beginning to stoke the flames in Shiro’s loins. 

“A-another…”

Lance beat Keith to the punch, a second finger slipping inside next to the two already within and Shiro groaned appreciatively. A sour look crossed the other paladin’s face and then a fourth finger joined the fray with a wet squelch and Lance could feel Shiro’s entire body quiver on and around him. It was apparent how much he had played with with his ass before, likely no more than three of his own fingers, and though slightly thicker than Lance or Keith’s, four of theirs was starting to give a stretch he was unable to give himself. He found himself doubling down on his efforts, working at scissoring and crossing about inside Shiro to give him access to the deepest realms of pleasure, imagining Keith falling behind as Shiro chanted his name over and over. 

Keith was fumbling about inside beside him, somewhat more erratic than Lance, and that sent a wash of satisfaction washing over him. Though he’d never admit it out loud he’d toyed with himself on a few occasions, mainly out of curiosity,  _ maybe _ once or twice imaging himself being bent over by another Alpha with the body of Adonis, and despite still being relatively clueless Lance had an idea of what motions felt better than others. And it was paying off, he could hear how Shiro’s breath would catch as he twisted here, feel as he squirmed against Lance’s chest and twisted the sheets in his fist when he spread the Omega’s insides and hooked his fingers. 

He brushed against one spot and the response was immediate, Shiro screaming and clenching around the both of them, begging for more. Lance tried to find it again with occasional success, so that every so often he or Keith would be squeezed in wet heat they desperately wished could be wrapped around another appendage.  _ It would be so good to be inside him for real _ , he thought, but even so just being the source of Shiro’s pleasure, the cause of every gasp and moan was enough for now. 

Wet slurping filled his ears and Lance looked down to see Keith -  _ Keith  _ \- with his mouth wrapped around Shiro’s cock. He bobbed up and down with gusto, Lance not missing how well Keith devoured the shaft every time he thrust his face forwards that seemed to answer some of Lance’s questions about Keith’s victory at the Garrison hot dog eating contest. His fingers had stilled inside beside Lance’s to a simple rub to match the tempo of his mouth and for an instant as he pushed his bangs from his eyes Lance imagined it was his cock and not Shiro’s that Keith was laving upon. 

He wasn’t going to be outdone, not yet. 

Squirming under Shiro he managed to change his position so his neck was nestled in the crook of Shiro’s armpit, the man’s arm scrabbling behind him and eventually finding purchase on Lance’s waist. They were tilted now, Keith rolling over onto his side to keep sucking dick like a pro with one of Shiro’s thick thighs draped over his shoulder. Lance continued his workings inside Shiro’s rear, teasing a third finger along the twitching ring of muscle, listening in earnest for when the man’s voice would catch as he begged for more. 

“Lance... “ came the whine, and a fifth finger began to push inside, testing the limits of Shiro’s body before finally sliding into the constricting heat. 

“You’re so greedy,” he growled. His tone surprised him but Shiro was reacting beautifully to it. “You’ve got four fingers in you and you’re still begging for more. I bet you wish you had our knots inside you, filling you-”

Keith hummed loudly in agreement, the vibrations sending fresh tremors through Shiro, his voice letting out again as Lance pressed his fingers against that spot again. 

“So beautiful… like this…” said Keith between bobs. “Wrecked… needy… ours…” Shiro let out another sob and begged them to continue

Lance craned his neck forward and grazed his teeth over Shiro’s nipple, flushed erect on the expanse that was the man’s perfect chest. With his free hand he kneaded Shiro’s other pec, tongue swirling the small bud before nipping and sucking it. He could taste Shiro in his mouth, all the aromas of his scent and more. His own sweat had mixed with Shiro’s, along with an earthy musk that had to belong to Keith. He could only imagine what his cock tasted like, or his ass. It had to be like this, only more intense, more intimately  _ Shiro _ and Lance’s mouth watered as he ground against Shiro’s leg, wishing for the life of him for this to never end. 

“You feeling good Shiro?” he asked. A garbled ‘uh-huh’ was his only verbal response, but the Omega’s body easily conveyed what his voice could not. “I’m glad,” he purred, sucking harder now, marking Shiro’s chest with little nips and marks that would surely disappear by tomorrow but would serve to remind him of everything tonight when they parted ways. “Hunk and Pidge were wrong, weren’t they? We’re just what you need right now…” He bit down. Not hard enough to break skin, but enough for Shiro to jerk, gripping Lance’s back against his own as he cried out. 

Their combined efforts overcame him, Shiro coming in a hoarse scream of their names. Lance teased him mercilessly as he rode out his orgasm, his insides squeezing their fingers so tightly he thought they would fuse together as Keith attempted to swallow his cock one final time. He pressed himself harder against Shiro’s back, wishing he was coming too right now, that they’d be in climax together, and Omega and his Alphas, the way it should be. He was wrapped in their arms, every last cry and drop belonged to them, pressed between the pair until he went limp, his body spent. 

The fog in his mind dissipated, if only a little. Keith was staring up at him, small stripes of come lining his cheeks and fringe where he’d missed Shiro’s load. He wanted more even though he knew Shiro needed to rest, his dick painfully hard within it’s fabric cage. His ears were tuned to every breath the Omega took, waiting patiently for his heart rate to slow and his eyes to open and look at them. 

“... Shiro?  _ Shiro! _ What’s going on?” crackled a voice over the forgotten communicator on the desk. “I heard other voices in there, I’m coming down!”

“ _ Fuck,” _ shot Keith. 

“We’re in so much trouble…” he moaned. “Hunk’s going to kill us, he must have picked up the feed when I mentioned his name…”

Shiro was beginning to stir again, but there was no time to wait around to hear his review of what had just happened. Keith was already grabbing him, roughly dragging him out from under Shiro and tugging him towards the door.

“We’re sorry Shiro, we really are, but we have to go, now!” And they sprinted down the corridor, the last glimpse of Shiro still hovering before Lance’s eyes, how he looked as if he was just waking up, scratching his ear as he watching the two of them go, comprehension slowly dawning on him. Another set of footsteps was already clattering down the other hall.

“In here!” Keith hissed, and shoved Lance into a dark doorway.

It was tiny inside, barely a broom closet and lit by the scarcest traces of light escaping under the door frame. He could feel Keith pressed against him, rummaging about at their midsections and cursing under his breath. His face was so close to Lance’s he could see each and every drop of Shiro’s come on his skin. Without thinking he leaned out and licked it, lapping up every trace of Shiro’s seed. 

“Goddammit,” breathed Keith, and Lance looked down to finally realize what Keith was doing. His knife was out, hands trembling as he fought to cut the binds to his pants. With his own equally shaking ones Lance reached out to steady them and together they sliced through the ties. 

“Me too Keith,” he begged, “me too…”

The blade clattered to the ground as the last restraint fell away, the two Alphas diving into their pants to touch their neglected members. Keith’s forehead came to rest on Lance’s should, his breaths coming in little gaps as he began to touch himself. Lance mirrored the movement, tucking his chin against Keith’s neck and burying his face in the other’s hair. 

He didn’t care right now that he was with Keith in a closet, didn’t care that his dick was in his fist instead of someone else. All that mattered right now was the scent of Shiro on Keith’s frame, the building heat behind his navel, and that if he closed his eyes, pressed his nose deeper into Keith’s shoulder he could picture himself back in that room. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still more to come, and by no means not the last time Lance and Keith get front row seats to needy Shiro.
> 
> EDIT: This work isn't abandoned, Grad school's just kicking my ass so I'm unlikely to be able to finish the next chapter until around Christmas when all these deadlines calm down. Sorry about the wait guys >


	5. Today was Good, Today was Fun, Tomorrow is Another One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp I don't have many excuses for the long absence. I got hit with a double whammy of school hell and writers block and let this chapter fester half finished on my computer for the past 3 months before I finally managed to get back to it. I've got a better idea of where the next few chapters are going, and with some luck maybe my courses will take enough mercy on me that I can update again within the next few weeks. Again, really sorry if you've been someone waiting!

As it turned out, Lance was as much of a screamer as Shiro was. At first it had been somewhere on the turn-on spectrum, Lance groaning into his ear as they jacked off against each other, but as he got closer to climax the noises got weirder. He’d hurried himself along, coming a full minute before Lance and saving himself from shooting off to the sound of a small dog being stepped on.

Which, of course, had been loud enough for Pidge to find them.

In a closet together.

Dicks out.

Lance’s spunk all over his shirt.

Though in some small way it made Pidge’s chewing out slightly less painful because nothing could be worse than having the asexual youngest child of the family walk in on you spanking it with the guy you claim to just tolerate. Which was where they were now, in Lance’s room, the two of them sitting on the bed dodging blow after blow from her pillow attacks.

“You! Freaking! Idiots!” each word was punctuated by a violent pillow whack. “How could you take advantage of him like that? After everything we were doing, you two still thought your _JUNK_ was what he needed?”

“Pidge calm down,” said Lance.

“ _NO!_ ” She got a wind-up and socked him in the gut. “You shouldn’t even have been tempted! We did everything to make sure you wouldn’t be affected and you _still_ go and jump an Omega in heat?”

“Well I mean, having a soft-core porn podcast running 24/7 isn’t exactly doing everything…”

The next blow meant for Keith was quickly directed to Lance’s groin. Judging by his yelp Pidge was getting better at adding a sting to her swings.

“You still listened in! You couldn’t keep your hard-on for Shiro in your pants like you were supposed to!”

This was good. Most of the blame was being targeted at Lance now thanks to his big mouth. He decided he should probably pipe up and duck out for Pidge to finish her lecture. “It’s true, he roped me in after listening to it. He’s got no self control.”

Lance shot him a furious look of _‘okay but WHO was the one who SUCKED HIS DICK AND STARTED DIRTY TALKING HIM OUT OF NOWHERE’_ to which he shrugged at. Would he have done that if Lance hadn’t invited him to? Maybe… _No_ … well maybe. If Shiro had begged. Or hinted at it remotely. Actually it was a fair point.

“And _you_.” Pidge zeroed in on him, glasses magnifying every hair on her furrowed eyebrows. “Don’t you act so innocent. You could have stopped Lance but you didn’t. Two Alphas going after an Omega… you… you…” she trailed off, trading words for several hard whacks.

“Hey, hey, Pidge, calm down!” Keith managed to deflect the last of the blows, but not before the stain of Lance’s cum had been smeared across t-shirt and pillow. Lance gave it a mournful look. He sighed at the other before turning back to Pidge. “Lance it’s yours, and Pidge, we were careful.”

“Yeah, that’s rich,” she snorted.

“No really,” said Lance. “We locked up our dicks, we couldn’t have fucked him even if we wanted too.”

 _We definitely wanted to_ , thought Keith.

“So then why did I find you two jacking each other off in a closet after Hunk found you two out?”

“Uhm…” he started uselessly.

Lance wasn’t much better. The two of them side eyed each other, silently goading the other into talking first.

“Fine!” Keith huffed as he grasped the pillow. “We got hard when we were with Shiro, happy?”

“Have you been paying _any_ attention to me?”

“Yes… but Pidge, I swear we didn’t try anything on him. We agreed before to drag the other one out if they got too worked up, and neither of us got to that point.” Or at least, neither of them had gotten worked up enough to want to take their hands off Shiro long enough to fight the zipties and free themselves. “It’s just… well, after we realized Hunk had heard us…” he looked to Lance for help.

“We really didn’t feel like getting lectured and beaten up by the two of you. At least, not until our boners were gone. Think of the poor little guys, what if they got confused? I mean, would you really want to be responsible for conditioning us into liking that type of thing?”

Predictably, Pidge’s response was another whack to Lance’s groin. This time however, with the butt of her shoe. Keith crossed his legs in self-preservation as Lance rolled around on the floor in pain. Lance was going to need to cool it at this rate if he ever even wanted to consider kids.

“Look Pidge,” he said, “we should have asked you guys first, we’re sorry.”

“ _So sorry!_ ” gasped Lance.

“We got a little caught up in the swing of things and did something careless, but we meant well.”

“You still don’t get it, do you?”

Keith braced himself for another whack, covered his crotch with his hands in case another stomp was in the cards but Pidge just stared at him.

“This isn’t just about you both making a rash decision for the ‘best’ of someone. It’s about you both caving despite Shiro’s choice. Despite what he wanted. What if it happens again and you do something you regret?”

“Oh _…”_ Lance started to go pale. _“Oh no…”_ It was rather hard to tell if the look on Lance’s face was from realization or residual pain, but remorse was painted across it plain as day. “Oh man… Pidge… Pidge we didn’t… we’d never…”

“Never what?” he asked, looking between the two of them. Lance was turning green, seemingly debating as to whether to reach out to Pidge or remain balled up on the floor.

“Pidge, I would kill myself before I’d let that happen.”

“What happen?” asked Keith, but even as he did the answer crept upon him like wet clammy hands from the deep.

This wasn’t just about Shiro that had Pidge so angry. It was _them_ , how despite respecting him, looking up to him, listening to him as the leader of Voltron they’d gone to him at his most vulnerable. And sure, Shiro had been rational, or at least rational enough when they’d asked for his consent this time, but what if he hadn’t been? What if they hadn’t been as careful in preventing themselves from claiming him. What if… it hadn’t even been Shiro? What if…

“Oh fuck… Pidge…” he croaked. “Pidge… we’d never… we would never forgive ourselves if we ever…”

Keith could see now just how much Pidge was fighting to keep together right now. This wasn’t just her protecting Shiro’s chastity. This was about the both of them, the two Omegas on board and their safety here. Because everything happening now could happen again, and what if resolve crumbled? Another heat could just come on suddenly before any of them could prepare for it. They could protect the others from the Galra, but what if they couldn’t protect them from themselves.

“I… we get it,” he said finally. “We’ll keep away from Shiro, we won’t try and talk him anything he’ll regret later. We’ll do other things to help out, like with the formula and keeping off the grid from the Galra.”

Lance nodded. “No Shiro contact whatsoever. We’ll stay far away, keep our dicks on ice if we have to.”

Pidge cocked an eyebrow. “So you agree no surveillance, no contacting him, not even going to the lower wing of the ship.”

Keith and Lance swore to her in tandem. “Promise.”

“Actually, this might be pretty good in the end,” chimed Lance. “If we can resist Shiro in heat you know we’ll have no issue down the road. Have you even smelled him right now?”

And with one final pillow assault Pidge laughed.

* * *

“So Shiro, you feel like talking about what just happened?”

Hunk had burst into the room several minutes ago, nearly crumpling the door in sheer desperation to enter faster than it was willing to open. He’d taken one look at Shiro before scouring the room like a fine toothed comb, checking under the bed, in closets and behind shelves, even the screws on the air vents. Evidently not satisfied, he’d returned to sit beside Shiro, carefully holding and checking the black paladin’s body and the sheets underneath him. Shiro, still slightly out of it had wiggled around in an attempt to help, wrapping himself in a half-assed towel skirt and moving aside for Hunk to inspect the damp mark on the bed.

He didn’t look pleased, but the initial urgency that had occupied the other seemed to have abated, even if only slightly.

“Look, even if it’s hard for you, I need to know you’re okay, alright? Was someone down here with you?”

Shiro ran his fingers through his bangs, weighing his options. After a few seconds he sighed.

“I let Keith and Lance in.”

“The both of them?” Hunk was obviously surprised. “Did they… no,” he shook his head, “why did you let them?”

He gave him a small grin, just managing to meet Hunk’s eyes for a second. “It was probably a mistake, wasn’t it?”

The resounding silence in response led him on.

“I knew it wasn’t a good idea, probably shouldn’t even have entertained it. They came by maybe an hour ago, probably less actually, wanting to talk. Told me they wanted to help – _just help_ – nothing in it for them. I started telling them to go away but then they started saying how careful they’d be, that having the two of them would mean it wouldn’t get out of hand. They even sewed their pants shut.”

“They _what?_ ”

“Here,” he passed Hunk his tablet and opened up the image. “They belted their pants shut and then sewed it up with zipties.”

“That’s actually pretty smart,” Hunk whistled. “But still Shiro, two Alphas? Were you thinking straight?”

Shiro flopped back onto his nest. “About as straight as I could be with this heat. It’s almost been like clockwork. It flares up until I do something about it and then its back again in 20 minutes. I’ve barely slept the past few days.”

“Yeah that sounds familiar.”

“Oh… right…” he’d forgotten Hunk and Pidge had been trading shifts listening to him. “Sorry about that.”

“It’s okay,” Hunk shrugged. “Pidge and I teamed up to patch some vocal pattern recognition software so we could pre-filter the feed. Basically we programmed it to raise the volume when you make a noise that isn’t one of your usual… heat ones. Pidge had a pretty comprehensive list.”

“So that’s why you didn’t interrupt until later on.”

“Yeah.” Hunk frowned. “They must have just come down when we’d started loading the software in, the feed was down for a good ten minutes or so. Otherwise Pidge would have been lecturing them a whole lot sooner.”

“That’s where they are now?”

“Yep. Last message I got from her she found them in a closet down the hall.”

Shiro was already picturing the chewing out Keith and Lance must be having now. He still remembered the time he and Matt had snuck in late into the Holt household and spilled guac from their 3 am TacoBell run on her Raspberry Pi. He still made an effort today not to get on her bad side, if only because her guilt trips were even higher than his own mother’s.

“They really were good to their word though. Didn’t do more than they said they would.”

“What _did_ they do?”

Shiro’s cheeks flushed at the memory.

“Uhm, well, hand stuff mostly…”

“That’s a little hard to believe with how your chest is looking right now Shiro.”

“What?” He looked down and immediately scrambled up against the wall. His chest was littered in little pink marks, some of them the little circles of kisses, others still long raking lines of nails along his skin. Though he didn’t want to study it further, he could have sworn he saw a light bite mark here or there as well. “Oh my god…”

Hunk raised an eyebrow.

“Okay so there as a little more than just hand stuff. They both touched me… down there, like, _down_ down there, and then I’m pretty sure near the end Keith was sucking me off and Lance…” he swiped at a pec, flaking off some of the saliva that had dried there. “Well he was sucking too…”

“But no knot stuff.”

“No,” Shiro sighed in relief. “No knots.”

“You regret it?”

Shiro stopped to think for a moment. In some way, they all knew some line had been crossed today. One that, if none of this had ever happened, if the Kerberos mission had gone as planned, they’d never have found themselves here. But at the same time it didn’t feel as though it would tear their little family apart. It was part of how all of them were coping with this new reality, external foes and internal.

“No…” he chucked. “You probably think I’m still out of it saying that, that I’m hopped up on pheromones or something, but I feel… like me. I haven’t felt that way since this all started.”

Hunk squinted at him, then, worryingly silent, began fiddling with the tablet.

“Wait, Hunk… is something wrong?” Something different was pooling in Shiro’s lower stomach, something far less pleasant.

The other looked up from the screen, his eyebrows knit together into an unreadable face on his otherwise expressive features.

“Twenty minutes was what you said, right?”

“Twenty?”

“Between each heat flare.”

“Well yeah, but…”

“It’s been almost an hour since I came down to check on you.”

Shiro’s lips hung parted, ready to speak but unable. It couldn’t have been, he was barely a third of the way through his cycle, possibly even less considering how long he’d been under suppressants for.

“I think I might have heard of something like this before, the effects of Alpha hormones on Omegas in heat. Your body got a huge dose of them with Keith and Lance in here, and probably strong breeding ones too. All that Alpha scent around you has your body believing you’re going to be bred, and with all… that,” he waved his hand at Shiro’s Pollock painting of a torso, “you don’t feel the need to be constantly letting out strong waves of your own scent. Your body’s happy you’ve found an Alpha so it’s dialling back on the strength of your heat.”

“So I’m cured?” He chanced a smile of relief.

Hunk winced. “Not quite. You’re probably going to have a big gap between now and your next heat flare, but when it comes there’s no telling if it’ll be more intense or not. Your body knows there’s Alphas around now, if it feels like it’s not getting what it needs your heat could get even more intense.”

“Oh… so I might need to… all the way with them…”

“Hey, hey, maybe not! We won’t know until your next bout of heat, maybe all you’ll need is a shirt or a piece of clothing of theirs and you’ll be fine. We can cross that bridge when we get there. And besides, Coran and I are still working on making that suppressant for you.”

He reached over the mound of blankets to cradle Shiro into a quick squeeze, noticeably mindful of stripes of slick and cum across Shiro’s hips. The gesture was a welcome one, and Shiro found himself reciprocating it almost immediately.

After a few seconds Hunk pulled away and made to stand up.

“Well, I think I’ll go prep you something hot to eat while you’ve got the time to enjoy it. In the meantime maybe try and catch a little shuteye? Or maybe a quick shower. You’ll probably appreciate it later.”

Shiro huffed in amusement. “Thanks Hunk, I’ll do that.” The other man was almost at the door when he spoke again. “And thanks for checking up on me like this. It means a lot.”

“It’s no problem, really.”

“I’m pretty sure it is.”

“Even so, well all know you’d be doing this for us.”

And with that Shiro was left alone, ready for sleep to catch him as he fell.

* * *

Fortunately, the rest of the day was uneventful. Hunk had returned to Shiro’s room a few hours later with his closest replication of noodle soup, which the other had gladly accepted. Aside from his slightly elevated musk Shiro was normal, happily chatting with Hunk and patting the last drops of water from his hair after a well-deserved shower. He and Coran had extracted a few promising compounds from his implant, but nothing for sure until they could test things tomorrow.

Even Lance and Keith had taken the news that Shiro was unlikely to need them again rather well, the pair side-eying each other with embarrassed looks. Keith had spent a good portion of the afternoon in the lab with him and Coran, dutifully passing over sample tubes when the times came and lounging about in a chair otherwise. Lance for the most part had taken it onto himself to scan the galaxy databases with Pidge, seeking out the quadrants of space the least likely to net them intro trouble with the Galra.

Now, well into the evening and past any reasonable hour of productivity, he and Pidge were constructing bingo cards together.

“I have ‘knuckle stuffed into mouth sounds’ and ‘falls off the bed’. Still need three more spaces though.” Somewhere along the line the two of them had decided that if they were going to sit through a full week of Shiro’s heat they may as well come up with a creative way to get through the awkwardness. As it turned out, Pidge was eerily good at coming up with bingo tiles.

“I’m still 12 short,” he sighed. There was a mishmash of things on his, ranging from ‘falls asleep ASAP’ to ‘made the squash mistake’. “You think ‘calls out for someone’ is reasonable?”

Pidge looked up from scribbling down yet another entry. “In terms of chances Shiro might do it? It’s pretty high but he’s not going to get anywhere with that. I had Lance and Keith swear off him until this is all over with.”

“So that’s why they’re being so well behaved now?” He tried to sneak a peak at her card. ‘Makes that noise where he sounds like his tongue is in a blender’ was added. Hunk made a mental note to try and keep Pidge off audio duty even more.

“Well, that and I laid into them pretty hard. They shouldn’t be going after any Omega like that, least of all Shiro.”

“True, though they didn’t quite ‘go after him’ in the classic sense.”

Pidge gave him a thoroughly unimpressed look. “Less than 48 hours ago they were talking about doing it with him and now look where they are.”

“I know, I know, it wasn’t exactly the right thing to do, but at least they knew to protect him from themselves.”

“I guess,” she sighed and stretched. “I have ‘goes through a full week’s worth of towels in a day’ and if I add in your ‘doesn’t calm down for 2 hours’ I’m done with my card. You made any more progress on yours?”

“Still twelve more.” Hunk bit his lip, staring at the empty squares in front of him. It was hard thinking of circumstances Shiro could find himself in without worrying too much. Thinking about an entry as silly as ‘tries to fit something way too big’ inadvertently sent him spiralling into images of him in the medical bay, being carried into a cryopod trying to heal his already weakened body after pushing himself too far. Even ‘delirious babbling’ brought up swarms of unease in his stomach. For a long time Shiro had been a rock, as hard as diamond, but now… it was if he was one step away from shattering like shale. With any luck he’d be out of the woods already, staying in a light heat after his stint with Lance and Keith. It was what Hunk was counting on as he continued to fill his card with inane entries.

Ten more minutes passed before he put down his pen and nudged Pidge with his knee. The other had returned to her laptop, continuing her studies of the Altean language while watching the shapes of Shiro’s audio stream. They were fairly rhythmic, something he now recognized as either the Omega’s self stimulation or gentle snores, but no spikes or key words had been called to alert them to issue.

“You finally done?” She stuck out her hand, fingers beckoning until Hunk surrendered his sheet for inspection. A mix of ‘mmms’ and ‘as ifs’ followed, ending with a sly grin as Pidge passed it back. “Oh, I’m gonna win this for sure.”

“Don’t get too cocky…”

“Pshh, come on Hunk, like… a quarter of your entries are just bad porno tropes. I mean, ‘gets off to someone’s dirty laundry’? The only fabric in that room with him is his own bedding and clothes and that isn’t counting no matter how you try and fight me on it. No, I’ve got this in the bag…”

Hunk sighed, adjusting his rear deeper into the couch. “Well, maybe that’s a good thing. Looking at all your entries I’d rather have him make all those weird noises than half the things on mine.”

“Hey…” Pidge peered up at him from beneath her lenses. “I know you’re worried about him, we all are. But instead of worrying about all the things that could go wrong let’s focus on the lighter things and how we can fix it. You’re getting there with that supplement, I know you are.”

“ _Pidge…”_

“Thanks Pidge… it’s just hard not to.”

_“… Hunk…”_

“It’ll be fine. He’s able to keep his heat under control, he’ll just need to do it for a few days more before this is all over.”

 _“PIDGE! HUNK!_ ” The audio monitor jumped sharply, startling them both.

“Sh-shiro?” Pidge held her finger down on the transmit, cranking up the volume even as she leaned closer. “What’s going on? Is everything okay?”

“I… I can’t,” came Shiro’s choked voice.

“Can’t what?”

“Can’t control it anymore… it won’t go away, no matter what I do. I…” he sucked in a breath.

Hunk could feel his blood run cold. _It couldn’t be…_ of all the luck they could run into, of all the things that could happen now, Shiro’s body had chosen to react like this.

“I need Keith and Lance. _Now!_ ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Groundwork is laid, now let's get to work on getting those boys laid too


	6. They Say Shiro's Heat Grew Three Sizes that Day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the patience guys! One more slight transition chapter before we can really ramp things back up.

Lance woke to the sounds of rustling in his room. They were gentle at first, like the sounds of curtains fluttering in the breeze of an open window or his cat hunting through piles of laundry for its favourite toy, sounds he could easily roll over and pretend to ignore. But they grew louder, more erratic, and Lance eventually rolled over with a groan to try and spy the offending party.

“Lance! Oh my god thank god you’re awake where’s your shirt?”

“…Hunk?” he asked, mind still half fogged. “What shirt?”

“The one you were wearing yesterday, the one you got all stained!” His best friend was elbow deep in a basket of laundry, rooting around in it as if his shirt would present itself as easily as an apple in a tub of froot loops.

“Firstly,” Lance pouted, propping himself up on an elbow, “tomorrow doesn’t become today until it’s actually morning. Second, why do you even care? I ended up washing it with my pillowcase after Keith smudged spunk all over it.”

“ _Quiznak!”_ Hunk’s attention turned from the laundry basket to the pair of crumpled jeans on the floor. “Are those the ones you wore yesterday?”

“ _Today…”_

“Fine, ‘today’ Lance. Did you end up washing those too?”

“No, but w – ”

“Great! Thanks Lance! I’ll get them back to you as soon as I can!”

“W-Wait a minute!” he struggled out of bed, confusion quickly replacing the complacency of sleep. There was something off about Hunk, something on edge. Not the on edge he’d seen at the garrison before an exam or when his midnight study munchies hit. There was real panic there, something he’d only seen in his friend since becoming Voltron pilots. “What the hell’s going on here? Why do you need my clothes?”

Hunk paused, looking over his shoulder back at Lance as the door slid open for him.

“Shiro’s heat came back.”

He was rushing down the hall before Lance could question further, leaving the blue paladin stumbling behind in his wake to watch Hunk’s form dart around the corner towards the lower wing.

Shiro’s heat was back? But it hadn’t even left, everything he knew about omegas said that once they entered their heats there was no way to terminate them, only methods to alleviate the symptoms. Even knotting only provided temporary relief, even if it was by far the longest lasting. From what Hunk and Pidge had told him and Keith they’d managed to do that much, but the fact he was having another spell wasn’t unexpected at all. Shiro’d just have to go back to looking after himself for the rest of the week, there was no need to swiping his clothes. He’d have a talk with Hunk tomorrow on proper sleep etiquette. No matter what kind of genius biochemical idea Hunk came up with at 2am, it wasn’t worth interrupting someone in the middle of their beauty sleep.

His thoughts were interrupted however, by a kerfuffle down the hall. One of the bedroom doors had opened, letting the occupant’s shouting spill out into the corridor.

“ _Pidge! Pidge quit it! STOP TRYING TO STEAL MY SHIRT I’M WEARING THIS WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!”_

“Keith shut up I need it! You’ll get it back soon enough, so _stop kicking me!”_

 _“WHY ARE YOU BREAKING INTO PEOPLE’S ROOMS STEALING TH-“_ Keith’s shouts were momentarily muffled, “ _-CLOTHES OFF THEIR… HEY!”_

Pidge shot out of Keith’s room like a bullet, her eyes flying wide in momentary surprise at the sight of Lance but her pace unimpeded, disappearing out of sight down the same path as Hunk.

“Pidge, get back here! You’re in so much trouble just wait until I get my hands…” Keith had appeared in the doorway, his mullet spiking up wildly in all directions and one boot still in the process of being tugged on. He was shirtless. On sight of Lance his anger cooled slightly.

“Lance… uh, did that wake you up?”

“Not really,” he shrugged. “Hunk did that before you could.”

Keith wiped his nose, fingers brushing against his matted hair and leaving the red paladin to attempt to tame his mane nonchalantly, as if Lance hadn’t noticed it looked like he’d had 10,000 volts pass through him.

“So… Hunk woke you up too, huh? Was he looking for something?”

“My shirt and pants,” Lance said, leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed. “Were you sleeping in your shirt?”

“You sleep with a top on too I don’t see why this is suddenly news to you,” Keith retorted.

“Hunk was looking for unwashed laundry from today, so does that mean you were sleeping in the same shirt we got dirty from- ”

“ _NO!”_ Keith sputtered, but the colour of his ears said otherwise. “Why would you even ask that, its not like I’d just fall asleep with crap all over me like that…”

“Right. In any case, did Pidge tell you why she was assaulting you like that before she took off?”

Keith calmed down somewhat, his look of indignation turning to confusion. “No, why? Did Hunk?”

His nose wrinkled. “Apparently Shiro’s heat is back, cryptic as that was. All that means is that he’s having another heat flare, right? Nothing to worry about?”

“Hopefully,” Keith scratched his collarbone, contemplating. “That makes the most sense, though why they wanted our clothes beats me. Maybe Hunk wanted to test alpha hormones to see if they could neutralize omega ones for his supplement? Seems pretty likely after what happened today.”

The logic of Keith’s words, even at these late hours made his shoulders feel slightly lighter. He sighed. “Makes sense, that’s better than my idea.”

Keith cocked an eyebrow. “Which was?”

“Shiro went through the entire castle’s supply of clean towels and Hunk and Pidge don’t want to deal with laundry anymore.”

* * *

“Shiro! Shiro, we got them wake up buddy!”

His entire body was sore, stiff in a way that begged to be touched and massaged by another, his lower half hypersensitized in a way that refused to respond to even the roughest of his own touches. Shiro was half buried in a mound of blankets and towels, his face ground into a pillow as he fingered himself with all the enthusiasm as a gynaecological exam with the half hearted hope that his stupid body might remember this is what it liked to get off to. At Hunk’s shouts he’d sat up, heart filling and the slightest twitch of his member in anticipation.

“Keith, Lance? You brought them?” He could feel his hole contract slightly around his fingers, as if it knew what was about to come. But as the door slid open his excitement faded.

“Not exactly…” Pidge spilled into the room beside Hunk, her eyes squinting at he sat back in his nest.

“But...” Shiro tugged a sheet up higher on his torso, wedging a towel between his legs to control his slick. He began to tune out, only half listening to Pidge and Hunk as his body decided to focus all attention on the rough texture against his crotch. Deep down he knew it was stupid to have expected them to bring Keith and Lance, they’d already voiced their concerns about letting that continue on unchecked, but somewhere deep in his gut was something visceral, something screaming at him to seek them out. Despite the risk, the adrenaline, there had been something soothing about being wedged between them, almost like… like…

Something caught his nose, rich and musky. He sat up straighter, arm reaching out for Hunk before he even realized what he was doing.

“A..alpha…” he mumbled.

Hunk and Pidge exchanged looks in front of him, but he couldn’t quite bring himself to care what they meant.

“That’s right Shiro. We’re not sure yet if it’s the best idea for you to be around them again but we got you the next best thing, okay?”

“They’re _extra_ alpha stanky, just for you,” added Pidge, and even in his impaired state Shiro could hear the snark tone in her voice.

“Here…” Hunk passed him two wads of fabric, one a pair of blue jeans, the other a dark grey shirt. Both exuded a different yet similar smell, warm and salty but with slightly different undertones. He couldn’t help but notice some of the dried white marks on the shirt, even richer in smell than the rest of the garment.

“I’m not sure if they’ll help or for how long they might, but I thought it might be worth a shot. Call us if you need anything else, okay?”

“Ok,” he said, already distracted as he ran his hands along the clothing, stopping with his fingers millimeters from the stain marks. _What would it have been like if those had landed somewhere else?_

A hand grabbed his shoulder, breaking the spell. “Shiro, hey Shiro, we’re going to leave now. I don’t need to know what you’re going to do next, even though it’s painfully obvious.” Pidge looked at him in a way not unlike a kindergarten teacher knowing his parents were about to divorce. “You’ll get through this.”

Shiro clenched his fist, ignoring the siren call of Keith and Lance’s scents and looked back up at her and Hunk.

“Thanks you guys. It means a lot.”

“We’re here to support you the whole way through buddy,” said Hunk with a little pat next to Pidge’s hand. “I guess we’ll leave you to it. Let us know if it helps at all.”

“Mmkay,” he said, focus shifting back to his hands. He was already locked into the two scents, barely registering Pidge’s comment about Bingo as the pair left.

Lance and Keith’s clothes. Their _dirty clothes_ at that. There was no mistaking it now as they ones they’d worn the last time he’d seen them as he looked them over in detail. Closer examination of Lance’s pants had odd splotches of tinted patches on the thighs each smelling strongly of his now always excited groin. The exception was the stain dead centre on the crotch, a faint blemish smelling overwhelmingly of Lance’s scent of citrus and sea air, far more than anything else. He rubbed over it with a finger, and was surprised to find himself disheartened that it was fully dry.

Keith’s shirt on the other hand, was a full ensemble of smells. As he held it up, nose drifting above it he could practically picture everything he’d done that past day. The armpits were ripe with exertion, without a doubt from the time Keith had spent in combat on the training deck, slightly more pungent than the rest of it. The hem and collar were a different story entirely, both carrying that underlying hint of sweat, but Keith’s scent – smells of smoke and cedar – rising to the top to dominate his senses. The same smell he’d encountered as the two of them had taken him as if he were theirs.

Shiro paused in his musings, acutely aware of the fresh warm trickling down from his pelvis and onto his thighs. Just their scents had him reacting now with the memory of their touch, not to mention…

He gulped as he eyed the white stains for the umpteenth time. There was no doubt about it, they belonged to one of them, the marks far to low to be any of his pitiful Omega load on Keith’s shirt. With one final whiff of both of them he made his choice.

The shape of his nest was quickly moulded into a more suitable arrangement, a long finger of towels extended from the mound as he laid Lance’s pants on top of it, Keith’s shirt crumpled up at the tip. Giving the array one final look over, Shiro splayed himself shamelessly onto them, three fingers sliding into himself as he closed his eyes and let his imagination take over.

It was almost as if he was back with them, their scents wrapping around his brain like a halo and slowly blinding him from anything else. Shiro hiked up the mound of towels beneath his cock and ground into them. Lance had done the same to him before, the bulge of his member pressed against Shiro’s back as if the Omega wouldn’t notice, using the other’s body to relieve himself. Shiro doubled down, frotting into the faux leg, twisting fingers inside himself as he remembered the dirty words uttered.

_‘Feeling good?’_

_‘So greedy… look how many already inside and you’re begging for another still…’_

Another finger was squeezed inside and Shiro cried out, biting down on the shirt. Keith flooded over his tongue, the Alpha’s scent wafting down his throat and his voice hitched. So close… so close to the real thing and yet he still wanted more, needed more of them.

_‘You taste amazing…’_

_No… no, you’re the one that’d taste amazing…_ His sanity was slipping again, the embarrassment behind those words crumbling in the wind as he breathed in through clenched teeth, sucking in another breath of Keith even as he ground his nose further into Lance’s jeans. He was caught between the pants and his fingers, fucking into or onto one or the other with each jerk of his hips. Shiro growled low in his chest, releasing the shirt for a second in order to have the full force of Lance’s scent wash into him now. The thicker fabric made for a better grit, his teeth grinding down onto the denim rather than each other as he rolled it between them.

_‘So beautiful Shiro, just look at you…”_

His breathing was erratic now, sharp inhales jumping from mouth to nose to mouth as he buried his face into the crumpled shirt to get the full effect of both of them. Images of a cabin by the sea flickered in his mind, the wood-burning stove the only light other than the stars as he was pressed into a bed, spread open like this. He wanted _more_ , wanted no more teasing, no more playing with him. Shiro crooked bent fingers inside himself, trying to bring the stretch down further, closer to his entrance. He wanted everything that came with mating right now, the slow prep, the teasing until he begged, and finally, finally the knot, the stretch he’d never felt and yet he knew it would be perfect, filling him deliciously in ways he couldn’t even imagine now.

He was edging now, so close he could feel his dick giving half hearted twitches unsure if the climax was now or coming further down the road. Shiro’s eye flitted in and out of focus, the white spots before his eyes increasingly inviting with each roll of his hips. He had to, needed to, lips trembling as he let the pants go, a fine strand of drool the remaining link between them. Shiro bit down anew, directly on them.

Musk hit him tenfold, as if it had been distilled down from their entire bodies into a single drop. Keith… no… _Keith and Lance_ … painted together across the shirt and his tongue, and Shiro simultaneously wanted to bless and curse this luck. The fact that both of them were in his mouth now, not just one, but the shame he hadn’t been there, hadn’t seen them come to this in person had him reeling. What had they looked like, what faces, what sounds had they made? He wanted to be there next time, wanted to be the thing that brought them both to climax. Wanted to feel the hot rush of their come flow down his throat and up inside of him, filling him completely.

His orgasm came suddenly, shocking his body as quickly as tumbling into a wayside pool. The perfect temperature, the perfect feeling of his weightless body as he dipped below the last gasps of mindfulness and into full bliss. His own come splashed across the clothes, fresh stains of his slick joining the old as he came, all the while sucking in every last taste of the Alphas. His whole body tightened as if to hold everything inside, then slid down across the bed, going boneless and relaxed like after a perfect swim.

It was then, spread out across their clothes, that Shiro finally surfaced from the fog once again.

* * *

The next morning found the paladins in a spectrum of moods. Lance was cranky, shooting looks at Pidge and Hunk over breakfast in return for his rude awakening in the night, which Keith couldn’t deny feeling himself. Pidge on the other hand seemed to almost have a spring to her movements that had otherwise been absent the past few days. She was madly typing away on her computer between bites of food, pausing every so often to ask Coran something in stilted Altean. But what had caught his eye more than anything else was Hunk.

Usually one of the best early risers of the group, cheerily welcoming the rest of their little family to the table with a new experimental breakfast food (this morning a food goo and fresh fruit parfait type dish), Hunk was oddly quiet. Aside from his newest creation being far from his greatest success, the gentle giant was barely eating, tracing circles in his food rather than raise his spoon to his lips.

Something was definitely off.

The question was what.

The fact that Pidge remained unbothered was the most confusing part. Ordinarily he’d expect the two of them to share the same funk should it relate to their shared project, in this case most likely Shiro. The fact they’d had to break into his and Lance’s rooms last night for their clothes definitely had to tie into it, but exactly how he couldn’t say. Whatever the result with them, it had satisfied Pidge, so it couldn’t be that bad, but still… the sight of Hunk like this was enough to put Keith on edge.

He managed to let it be the rest of the meal, stealing glances at Hunk every so often between talk with Allura on the differences between human and Altean cultures. He might have let it go completely, if not for Lance.

“Hey Hunk, buddy, you doing okay?” the blue paladin asked as he scraped the last of his food from his plate. “It’s not like you to practically skip a meal.”

“Oh.” Hunk looked down, seemingly surprised that the food in front of him hadn’t entered his body through pure diffusion up his spoon. “I guess I’ve just been thinking a bit too much. Didn’t even notice.”

“Everything okay?” Lance’s brow wrinkled, trying to read Hunk alongside Keith. “You don’t look like you had much sleep. Something keep you up all night?”

Now that Lance mentioned it, there _were_ dark circles beneath Hunk’s dark eyes. His hair’s usual luster seemed dimmer as well, as if he’d neglected to shower this morning as well. The more he looked, the worse for wear Hunk appeared to be.

“I’m fine Lance, promise. I just got hung up on some reading last night and didn’t get to bed until pretty late.”

Lance sighed, but seemed placated with his answer. “You know how you get when you start getting too far behind man. Just try and give yourself a chance to catch up tonight.” It looked as though he couldn’t detect a lie in Hunk’s words, a far better gauge than Keith could ever hope to be with him.

Still. Even if there was no lie, there was something afoot.

And he was getting to the bottom of it.

“What’s wrong with Shiro?”

It was as if he’d shot a gun out of nowhere. Hunk’s spoon clattered to the table. Lance whipped around so fast half his robe fell off his shoulders. Pidge’s voice sputtered and died mid-sound, petering out like a crashing mosquito. No one moved. All eyes were on him.

Then, slowly they turned to Hunk.

“I thought we’d sorted him out.” Pidge’s voice was hoarse. “It _worked!_ ”

Keith and Lance shared uneasy glances before Lance returned to Hunk.

“What happened last night? What, _exactly?_ ”

Hunk seemed to weigh his options. Finally, fingernail between his teeth, he spoke.

“Shiro went back into heat last night, after you both managed to supress it for him. It didn’t seem any different from before, same intensity, same symptoms, it looked like he was going right back to how he was before.”

“But there’s a but…”

Hunk nodded. “He couldn’t manage with it on his own this time. Body wasn’t responding. He was just… perpetually in heat. He ended up calling us, asking for you.”

His whole body jerked. Shiro’d asked for them, he wanted _him_ , wanted Keith beside him, on him, _in him_.

“And…” he asked, “is that why you took our stuff?”

“That’s why. He wasn’t in his right mind then. You could tell he was trying to hold it together but he was barely there. We thought maybe smelling an Alpha would help.”

“Well, it did!” Pidge sputtered. “He was ready to rip their clothes out of your hands and get off to them before we even left the room! He was done and passed out within 5 minutes of then! So what’s the big deal? He can’t get off by himself anymore but be can get off to an Alpha’s sweaty B.O.!”

She stopped, mid-rant Keith realized. She hadn’t even noticed how far over the table she was leaning, or how half her fingers were in a dish of cold goo. Even now she hadn’t. He could see the colour slowly drain from her cheeks.

“There’s something else. Something you didn’t tell me.”

“Something… else?” Lance joined her in his panicked look. “But he’s just… he just responding to Alpha hormones, that’s it!”

Hunk shook his head.

“Not just any Alpha hormones Lance, only yours and Keith’s.”

It was like being slapped in the face with a diploma. Like falling down the stairs with a winning lottery ticket. The primal parts of Keith were glowing, prideful that an Omega was so attached to him, let alone an Omega as fine as Shiro. But the rest of him, his brain, his heart, his gut were being stabbed with icy needles, each and every one jabbing the same thoughts deep inside him

_You did this._

**_You_ ** _did this to him._

_But it means he’s mine… he’s chosen me…_

_I could look after him. Protect him._

_But still, you did this…_

“But… but that can’t be true!” Lance’s shout was shrill reprise from Keith’s own thoughts. “Its… its just because we’re the only source of Alpha hormones here! He’d be doing the same for any other Alpha if they suddenly appeared! You said it yourself, his body just thinks someone will mate with him and that’s why he’s reacting like this! Its not just us!”

“Lance…” Hunk whispered, and at that moment Keith could see every line of worry and doubt on the man’s face leading up to this confession. “I tried.”

“You _tried?_ But… you’re a Beta, Hunk.”

Hunk’s huge fingers were running through his hair, shielding his face from having to watch Lance slowly shut down.

“Lance… I thought something like this might happen. I’d managed to extract generic Alpha hormones from the suppressant bar. I thought synthesising some of them and leaving some in his room would be enough in case this kind of regression happened. I swapped his sheets out with ones that I’d sprayed with the mix.”

“No…” Lance croaked. “You messed up, something was wrong with your chemistry…”

Keith already knew what was coming, but it did nothing to soften the blow to the other.

“Coran can vouch that our batch was identical. Shiro won’t respond to it at all Lance. He’s already started to bond to you two.”

“Bond?” Lance’s voice was broken, his shoulders collapsed so far a shoulder of his robe slid off. Keith watched as he stumbled back, falling into his chair, fixated on something a foot from his face that no one else could see.

“But… but that’s not possible… that’s only supposed to happen _after_ a mating.”

“Lance,” Hunk started, but the other paladin was locked into his own world now, hands creeping up his hair and face as he scrabbled for purchase on this reality.

“ _We never meant to thought!_ We were just trying to help, nothing was supposed to happen other than him getting better faster! Shiro can’t be, it’s just got to be some weird preference, maybe those fake Alpha hormones made him nervous, maybe they didn’t feel safe and that’s why he’s acting like this… you just need to change his sheets again and he’ll be fine… that’s it… he’ll be okay…”

“Lance…” Hunk repeated, his eyebrows steadily rising in distress as Lance’s voice rose too. “Lance listen to me… Lance!” But the other was still out of it, babbling away, fingers knotted in his hair.

Keith made his choice.

Without a word he rose from the table, watching still as the other Alpha registered none of this. Lance barely noticed him coming to stand beside him, hardly batting an eye as Keith stooped beside him. A squeak was Lance’s only sign he’d been shaken from his own dimension as Keith slung him over his shoulder and carried him out of the room.

For as much of a beanpole Lance was, he was still heavy enough, helped not at all by the struggling he was now doing as Keith rounded a corner.

“Keith… what, _put me down!_ ”

His request was granted, even if somewhat roughly as Keith flipped him back down against the wall, pinning him there with two hands as he forced Lance to look him in the eye.

“ _What_ ,” he spat, “is going on with you?”

He immediately regretted his tone as Lance’s eyes began to glaze over with tears.

“Hey, look… I’m sorry…” he tried again. “Lance what the heck is wrong with you?”

“It’s my fault…”

“What?”

Keith startled as Lance’s hands came up to mirror his own grip on his shoulders. “This is all my fault Keith, if I hadn’t been stupid enough to think Shiro might want one of us we’d never be here… he wouldn’t be like this. We wouldn’t have forced him into this…” Full tears were rolling down his face now, gathering in thick droplets on his chin before falling to the floor.

“I messed up. I messed everything up.”

Oh.

This was different.

For as much as he knew Lance, and to be honest he wasn’t sure quite how well, he’d never seen him this upset about anything, or at least, visibly upset. For as many times as he’d seen him bail out of the simulator, land Blue a little too roughly when they’re first met their lions, even when he’d been accepted into the cargo pilot program instead of his first choice Keith hadn’t seen him so much as sniffle. There’d been jokes, sure, and sarcastic remarks if a sore spot was pointed out, but this Lance was completely different. As much as he sometimes wasn’t sure what Lance was to him, he knew he didn’t like seeing him like this.

“That’s… well, not everything…”

“Is it Keith? Cause it kinda feels like it right now.”

“So you messed up, so what? You’ve messed up before too and moved on, you can do it again.”

“Oh my god, Keith, _his life is fucked up now because of my stupid idea!”_ Keith startled at the strength of the fingers digging into his skin, shaking him. “This isn’t some test at the garrison, this is his _effing life_ and now he’s bonded to us whether he wants to or not.”

The knife in Keith’s gut twisted. He’d been distracted with the news; the initial concern dulled by the idea of Shiro, his friend, his maybe-maybe-not crush potentially feeling the same as he did. But Lance had gone right past those thoughts to here, to the what ifs where Shiro would come out of his heat and regret everything, regret _them._

His initial irritation and confusion was gone. They were in the same boat here, two Alphas, unsure if they were bringing good or harm.

“It’s not just you.” Keith reached up to pry one of Lance’s hands off him. “If that’s the case it’s my fault as much as yours, you wouldn’t have done anything if I hadn’t agreed to it.”

“I guess,” Lance sniffed.

“Maybe we screwed up royally but we don’t quite know yet. Hunk said ‘starting to bond’, right?”

“So… so that probably doesn’t mean the same thing as a claim. More like something in between?”

“Hopefully,” Keith mumbled, fidgeting with his hands for a moment before realizing he was squeezing one of Lance’s. The other Alpha gave him a small look, but made no move to pull out of the grip.

“Maybe we should check with Hunk on what a full actually entails.” Lance was starting to trace slow circles on his wrist. As strange as it was, Keith was comforted by it. “If… if you’re right and it needs to be something like a bite or a knot then what’s going on now is more of a pack style bond? Like the comforting type? I think I heard something like that before.”

He nodded. “Okay. And we both agree if that’s the case that’s all we’ll do, the comforting side of things. We wait for Shiro’s heat to be over before there’s any thoughts about anything else.”

“Right. Everything’s down to Shiro.”

“Agreed.”

“Hey Keith?” Lance asked, his blotchy face cocked slightly.

“Yeah?” He felt Lance’s fingers squeeze his own.

“Thanks.”


	7. Sex Ed Thing One and Thing Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd originally planned for stuff to progress a bit father in this chapter but in the end things carried on longer than I'd expected and I decided to cut this chapter in two for flow's sake. I've go the next one half written though and will hopefully have it up next week for you guys :D

“Harder! Come on I know you both have more in you!”

“I- dunno,” wheezed Lance.

“Me either,” gasped Keith, “I’m almost on empty…”

“Oh, for cripes sake…”

The droid to the left of the pair whirred back into life, the two jumping and regrouping into their back-to-back formation at its partner booted back up as well. There were audible groans of frustration, even from up in the control room where Hunk sat. They’d been at this for over an hour now, constantly changing from turrets to droids to obstacle dodging with barely a pause.

“Stop being babies!” Pidge had taken it upon herself to push them to their limits after Hunk had started to show signs of weakness, now lounging across the console with a finger lazily pressed on the intercom button. “If you’re both still standing and able to keep complaining you’ve got enough energy to keep fighting.”

“Easy for you to say,” Keith wiped the sweat from his chin with his borrowed shirt, an old Altean pyjama top he’d elected to wear over his scant supply of personal clothes. “You haven’t been fighting for your life for the past three hours.”

“Actually it’s been an hour and twenty, and that’s a moot point right now, I don’t need to be sweaty right now.”

“Pidge c’monnnn, have a heart!” Lance’s chest was heaving under his own loaned shirt as well, dark patches of perspiration pocked below his arms and down his back.

“Okay,” she smiled lovingly down at him, “I won’t turn on the maze at the same time too.”

“Goddammi-” he started, but was interrupted by a sudden swing for his face. “ _NOT COOL PIDGE._ ”

“Just hang in there a little longer guys, you’re being real troupers here.” Hunk sat back from the microphone and returned to worrying the pen cap in his mouth into a twisted mass. They’d worked out a fix for now, as delicate as it was. Shiro just needed to smell the two of them in order to be comforted now, so, well, they just had to provide him with that. The only issue in the plan was the sheer amount of work Keith and Lance had to put into it. It seemed that once Shiro got a hold of something with their scents on it would only last a few hours before he’d dilute them out with his own. After a half day he’d be back to before, whimpering and shamefully calling Hunk and Pidge for help.

This was the second time today they’d had them in the training room working up a sweat and it was clearly showing. Keith had gone from dodging and dancing around obstacles to simply jabbing and blocking anything that came within arms reach of him. Lance had traded the trick shots he’d been attempting in the early morning for simple point and shoots. Somewhere in the past half hour they’d wound up back to back and hadn’t broken formation since. He couldn’t blame them; this wouldn’t be easy, even if they hadn’t already worked out in the morning and the night before.

A yelp from the floor below roused him back from his train of thought. One of the droids had found an opening, raising an arm to Keith as he wiped a line of sweat from his brow. Lance had spun to raise his gun in front them as a block all too late. Metal connected on metal and the pair were flung across the room and landed in a heap some several meters away.

Pidge immediately dialled the droids back into stasis as they crowded the window for a better view.

Neither of the Alphas made a move to get up.

“You guys okay?” he called down.

“Just… peachy…” was barely audible from the mound.

“Hey, if you guys are faking, I’m turning on the maze. Don’t think you can fake-”

Lance’s head swivelled around to get a sight of them from around Keith’s knee. “If you’re planning to kill us can you just do it already?”

“Seconded,” Keith moaned. “Can we just lay here for a little while?”

“This floor feels so nice, Keith did you ever realize how comfortable floors were until now?”

Hunk gave Pidge a look as the conversation below dissolved into something about elbows wedged in places. There was no point in incapacitating even more of their team, better to let them rest up.

“Let’s call it a day everyone,” he spoke over the intercom. “Can you guys meet me in the lab for a few really quick? We’ll leave you to yourselves afterwards.”

“Can we shower first?”

“Sorry buddy, going to need you to be sticky for a little bit longer.” He smiled apologetically. “I’ll meet you over there.”

“Is there a chance someone can carry me?”

Hunk cocked an eyebrow at Pidge as he started for the door. “I’ve gotta grab Coran, can you handle them?” Her response was an eye roll, but there was no frustration there, only an _‘of course you’re making me responsible for these idiots’._

“Sure, we’ll see you in 10.”

* * *

As it turned out, it was twelve minutes before Pidge strode into the lab, followed by Allura. Lance and Keith were slung over each of her shoulders as easily as if she was carrying two kittens. Her nose was noticeably crinkled.

“Are humans usually this… pungent after battle?” she asked, dropping them both on spans of empty benchtop. Lance moaned appreciably at the cool surface, hiking his shirt up to get the full effect.

“Sometimes, but not usually. Strip you guys.” Pidge was already booting her laptop back up and opening up some boxes of code as two wads of fabric smacked her in the face. She glared at them from underneath a deconstructed turban

“On some level I know I deserve this but at the same time _what the hell?_ ”

“Awww c’mon Pidge,” Lance pouted, “you said strip, but you didn’t say where to put the strippings.” Keith stifled a giggle from beside him. “Sorry,” he added quickly before Pidge could think of retaliation.

“Thanks…” The shirts were discarded in a crumpled heap beside her. “Best present ever…”

Allura turned her attention away from the display of sibling bickering to Hunk. “So, has there been any progress on the cure for Shiro yet?”

“Well,” he sighed, “Coran and I successfully identified all the compounds in it and he’s been synthesizing more of everything for me, but there’s still the issue of the actual doses.”

“Pardon?” Allura’s hair swished as she sat down beside him. “I was under the impression you simply had to remake another version of your suppressant in order to cure him.”

“As it turns out, humans are a lot more complicated than that princess.” Coran appeared from the other room, two entire tube racks filled with various solutions in his arms as he came to join them. “Despite being the same species they require multiple cures depending on their individual biology. Quite fascinating really, the Altean scientific community would love this if they were still around. The whole personalized medicine deal poor Fenwick was always theorizing about.”

“It is a shame,” she said, “but for now we need to focus on Shiro. How are you planning to figure out the ratios? Simply testing them on Shiro would be ill advised.”

“That’s where Pidge comes in. There’s no way we can figure things out but just testing random combinations on him, that’d be like… 2 years of clinical trials.”

“Hold up!” Lance had managed to raise one finger off the table. “Does that mean Pidge is going to be your guinea pig Hunk, because if so _not cool man,_ not cool. Can’t you two eggheads come up with something better?”

“Relax Lance,” Pidge said. “Nothing’s being injected in me or Shiro. I’ve been working on a code to run through a bunch of combinations to try and find the right one. I’ve already built the engine to perform the selection process, we just need to scan in all the inputs.”

“Coran actually has this super cool device! Kind of like that hologram of King Alfor.”

“Right-o!” The Altean gave his moustache a cheeky tweak. “We’re able to create an artificial biology of a life form after a DNA sample and a body scan that practically replicates the actual being. Of course, it can never have a physical presence, and cannot have memories without a whole other process, but after a quick scan of our Shiro Pidge and Hunk can test all forms of compounds on it.”

The looks Keith and Lance were giving them now fell directly in the _‘Hunk I love you but you make as much sense as quantum relativity in Chinese’._ He sighed and joined Pidge behind the computer.

“TL;DR, we can do all the tests we need on the ship’s computers. If we scan in ourselves too we might even be able to make suppressants for all of us, not just Shiro.”

Keith stuck an arm out, or, well, more flung it haphazardly in Hunk’s general direction. “You could have just said that in the first place man. Do me so I can shower and go pass out already.”

“Me too,” moaned Lance.

“Well then, I’ll scan you both in right this second and then off you can go!” Coran bounded over to them and began passing them over with a laser array. “Though, Hunk, you did say something about perspiration samples as well, correct?”

He looked up from the vial he was scanning himself. “Oh, right. Guys we’re going to wick you down to try and get as much off as possible. Hopefully we’ll get enough sweat that you can get a bit more rest tomorrow.”

“Hunk, man, you could be giving me Keith’s dumb mullet right now and I wouldn’t care.”

“ _Hey!_ ”

The pair continued their back and forth as he and Coran finished their scans, but the fire behind their words was barely there. It was more of a routine than anything they had right now, riffing off each other to pass the time until they could go and rest. By the time Hunk’d started to strip the moisture off Keith with a strigil they’d fallen into silence. The only actions they took were extending limbs to him to scrape dry. Maybe that was why Lance’s next words took him by surprise.

“Hunk, how does bonding work?”

He stopped in the middle of wringing out Keith’s glove. “What?”

“Like… how does it happen? Is it as important as movies make it out to be? Can… can you reverse it?”

 _Oh_.

 _Oh._ This was why Lance had been quieter lately, why he hadn’t asked about Shiro since breakfast that one time. He’d tried to go after him when Keith had wrestled him out of there but Allura had stopped him with a hand and shake of her head. _This is their issue to discuss_ she’d said, _let them attempt to solve it themselves first_. And he’d done so, other than asking Lance if he was feeling better later that day he’d let it be. Of course he’d asked Keith as well, a double check for his nerves that his best friend was doing as well as he was attempting to put out, and it seemed like the worst of it was out of his system. He’d always been the type to keep things quiet until they threatened to overwhelm him, it was an uphill battle to get him to confide in Hunk before things got out of hand. The fact he was asking now meant it had been building in his mind for sometime, but how he answered the question would either calm the worries or stoke the flames.

“Welll, uhm, there’s been some research on it but nothing’s been proven for sure, I’m not totally up to date…”

“Oh my god. For real Lance?”

The whole group looked over at Pidge, nearly forgotten as she’d engrossed herself in her program. She sat cross-legged and crossed armed, eyebrows raised in a disapproving pout.

“You’ve got an actual Omega here and instead you’re asking the Beta? I know he’s wealth of near-useless information, but _come on_! You think I don’t know the first thing about bonding or how to prevent it? That’s a full session of sex-ed for Omegas, and instead you’re asking the guy who got the cliffnotes on it?”

“I’ve done some extra reading too…” Hunk whined, but it was true. Schools tended to divide students up by Natures when teaching them these sorts of things. The argument was that Omegas and Betas could be taught defensive strategies against aggressive Alphas, and Alphas were to spend more time learning how to best supress urges and protect friends of the other natures from the bad apples. Betas, having toes in both pools, had to take a highly condensed course on both to cover all the bases.

“In any case,” Pidge clapped her laptop shut, “why do you want to know?”

Keith propped himself up on an elbow. “What Hunk said yesterday, it’s got Lan – I mean – us worried that bonding can happen through ways other than biting and we might have done something wrong.”

Pidge raised an eyebrow at Hunk at that. “All you two did was touch him and let him rub up against you, right?”

“Well, yeah?”

She sighed and rocked backwards, one of her _‘these idiots’_ grins slapped across her face. “Well, then you don’t have to worry. He feels safe around you two, so that’s probably this ‘ _half-bonded’_ thing Hunk was spouting off about. You two don’t have nearly enough charisma to do that type of thing. Everything concrete about the process says that it’s impossible to get bonded that way.”

Hunk’s heart calmed as he saw Lance smile at that. Pidge could sometimes speak her mind without thinking of how it’d affect others, but right now she was doing perfectly.

Keith’s brow however, was still wrinkled.

“So why is he only responding to our smells?”

Pidge chewed her lip, eyes tracing over the celling. “If I had to guess, it _is_ related to the whole bonding effect, but it’s not quite the same thing.” She continued on as Lance let out a gasp like an abused squeak toy. “You’re safe Alphas in his proximity, it’s kind of like his body trying to weight being bonded to one of you in his favour. If a third Alpha came into the equation he wouldn’t react the same and would probably be able to fight them off better. After all, being bonded to an Alpha you don’t want is really bad.”

Lance visibly gulped. “Wait… why’s that?”

Hunk sucked in a long breath. “It means whether they want it or not, their chances of a child with that Alpha is higher Lance. A lot higher.” He wanted to hide his face from his friends worried brow.

“But… no… isn’t it like a love seal or something? Like the two of them can’t be apart, that they’re tied together forever, mind and soul and body? All that stuff?”

Pidge snorted. “That’s a fat load of horseplop from Hollywood. Why do you think you hear about cases of Alphas with harems popping out 19 pups and counting? The main biological effect, no emotions, is increased fertility with their select partner. All that other gushy stuff is regular love and feelings getting amped up by the bond.”

“It’s an evolutionary trait from way back,” Hunk whispered, staring at a point on the table between Keith’s feet. “To let Omegas have more of a say in who they reproduce with. Chances of kids when unbonded is really low, like 1 in 200 or lower, but if you let your mate of choice mark you it goes up, way up.”

“I start off even worse off then Omegas, maybe 1 in 50 chances, but if you’re bonded every heat you’ve got a 1 in 4 chance of having a kid. But at the same time, if you have sex once during heats it’s basically over.” Pidge shrugged. “It’s a tradeoff, but that’s the basics of it. That’s why a lot of Omegas wear high collared outfits, easier to avoid bonding until you want to.”

Hunk knew it was far more than that, far more burden on Shiro or especially Pidge to live with that nagging worry, to be ready to dodge that sword hanging above their heads if the thread ever snapped, but he kept quiet. There was no point in spreading that fear.

“Pidge, that’s great and all, but how do you actually _make_ a bond?” Lance’s expression was still somewhere in the ‘mildly concerned to 5 minutes before a final exam’ range. “Is it even biting or is that fake too?”

She paused to clean her glasses off on her shirt, seemingly processing how to proceed. “Pretty much. An Omega’s scent gland has to be directly exposed to an Alpha’s hormones. Something about immune systems. It only works during heats though for whatever reason, I’m not sure why exactly.” Pidge eyed Hunk over her frames. “You don’t happen to know anymore, right?”

“Ah, er, well…” he was caught off guard. “Pidge’s got the basics down. During heats Omegas are receptive enough that their immune systems won’t completely kill foreign microbes. If you bite the scent gland on their neck their body doesn’t recognize it as foreign and when they finish their heat they’ll recognize their Alpha as a part of them. It’s why they’re more fertile after, their bodies don’t actively try and kill off their Alpha’s sperm.”

“Woah…” breathed Keith, “so Shiro’s slick is like spermicidal lube?” Hunk seriously wished he could be anywhere else right now. It was like being back in middle school when Alpha tweens learned that sex involved fluids _other_ than pee coming out of their members.

“…Sure,” he said.

“So that’s it…” Lance sighed. “Shiro’s fine, he’s just inconvenienced.” Keith reached up, lightly bopping him on the head as if to say _See? No big deal._ Hunk couldn’t help but begin to smile as the last of the lines disappeared from their faces. “So long as neither of us bite him everything’s okay.”

Keith’s eyed widened a bit. “I… I might have nipped him a bit on the ears and waist, is that okay?” There’d been more than _a few_ hickeys and bites on Shiro that one time, and judging by the flush creeping into Lance’s ears the other had also delivered a few of them as well.

“You’re both idiots. Seriously, its gotta be 80% steel wool between your ears. If you didn’t even break the skin there’s no issue, and it has to be near a gland, either neck or groin.” Pidge reopened her laptop, the discussion clearly over according to her. “The only other exception is the rare case where they can get bonded through knotting, but that’s only if the Omega tears during. No skin breaks near the glands, no bonds. Now, can you two please stop talking asking about sex like you’re 12 years old and leave us alone to work?”

“Sure.”

“If you say so.”

Lance made a feeble attempt to get up before collapsing (somewhat over-dramatically) back onto the table. He turned to pout at them.

“Can someone carry us?”

* * *

It was a few hours later when Hunk knocked on the door.

“Shiro, buddy? You awake?” There was some shuffling and mumbling from inside before the hatch slid open. Shiro stood there, half awake and rubbing sleep from his eyes with finger and thumb. His other hand was fisted in a sheet wrapped around his middle.

“M’wake,” he said, and beckoned the other paladin inside. “It’s a pretty good time, was just getting a bit of shut eye before it gets worse again.” Shiro pulled a chair over beside the bed and settled himself back into his nest. Several spare shirts now graced the pile along with the array of blankets and towels. “Did you want to talk or something?”

“Actually, I was just coming to drop off some more clothes, I thought you’d have wanted new ones by now.” He passed Shiro a package wrapped in plastic, their attempt to keep the smells fresher for longer.

“I forced myself to wait as long as possible before getting into the last set.” He smiled sadly as he lay it beside him, smoothing out the crinkles as he did. “This can’t be all that fun for Lance and Keith. Speaking of,” he turned to Hunk, “how are they doing? Not too frustrated? Worried? Are they staying rested enough?”

Hunk weighed the words on his tongue, testing each of them as if he’d never pronounced such syllables. “They’re… not bad. Tired for sure, but they know the position they’re in and are being good sports about it.”

“Oh.” Shiro’s voice fell. “So they’re not doing that well.”

“I wouldn’t say that! Well, uh, they _are_ exhausted but it’s because Pidge is pushing them to work out as much as possible.” He started rambling trying to pick the other’s mood back up. “And it’s not like they’re going along with it grudgingly! They’re both really worried about you and feel bad this ended up happening, they want to do everything they can to help! They even started asking me and Pidge all these questions about Omegas and bonding trying to make sure they didn’t do anything wrong there. So… they’re not in perfect spirits but they’re as close as they can manage? Does that make any sense?”

A soft huff of laughter came from the Omega. “Yeah, that does a bit, thanks Hunk. Why were they asking about bonding though? No biting happened… well, none that counts.” He scratched a lingering red mark on his pec.

“That, well, I might have worded some stuff badly.”

“Oh?” An eyebrow raised.

This felt ten times as embarrassing explaining it to Shiro, someone far more intimately involved and understanding of the whole situation than himself or the others. “Well, since you’re only responding to them now, I called it _half-bonded_? Like, as if you guys are all partway to becoming mates. It really freaked Lance out the other day. I think he started thinking that the two of them had done something you couldn’t have consented to.” He laughed. “Pidge cleared it up though, better than I could have. She said it was because you already trust them that your body’s tuned into them now.”

Instead of the immediate response Hunk expected Shiro leaned back in his bed, seemingly chewing the words over.

“I guess that matches up?” he said at last. “I was a little worried something could happen but nothing did. I don’t know enough about this stuff though, I’ve been on suppressants so long I couldn’t tell you if that type of thing just happens between friends during heats.”

“Me too, no clue.” He waited for Shiro to say something else, but he stayed silent. After a pause about 2 months overdue he made to stand up.

“I guess I’ll leave you to get a bit more sleep. Let me know when those start wearing off. If you give us enough of a heads start hopefully Lance and Keith can have enough time to keep you from staying high and dry for too long.”

“Mm, will do.”

He’d just begun to make himself scarce when a flushed hand gripped his wrist.

“Hunk?”

Shiro’s gaze was averted, but his fingers dug in, insistent. “Do you think they’d ever… take advantage?”

He stopped. Waited for more to be added, but the question ended there.

“Never.” He spoke softly, trying to wrap his hand around to hold Shiro’s. “They’d never be able to forgive themselves, they care about you too much. Your well being would be the only thing that’d matter to them.”

 _Is that enough?_ hung on his tongue.

Shiro nodded, letting him go.

“Good to know.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> last of the world building/emotion building chapters I swear guys! Thanks for being so understanding and patient with the stuff between smut. Its really nice to get a chance to explore the issues in the ABO world and flesh out characters outside the bedroom as well (:


	8. Some Things are Sad and Some are Glad

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First off, I'm so so so sorry this ended up being so late. I wanted to have it done before I left to visit family but WELP it's pretty obvious that didn't manage to get done and the whole period I was home my spare time was spent between making zine and big bang deadlines. 
> 
> Long story short having an empty neighboring seat on the plane back was a godsend and we're back in business. 
> 
> Second off, thanks you guys for being patient with me, it means a lot! ;-; This chapter's a fair bit longer than I usually make them and literally half smut so I hope it helps make it up a bit for you!

“What the hell are you two doing?”

Keith had walked into the common area after a long nap and a shower to find Lance and Pidge in the center of the aftermath of an explosion. Rather than give an actual answer they gave him a nod of acknowledgement and went back to what they were doing, trying to fit piece after piece of shrapnel together.

“I seriously doubt you guys will be able to fix this, it looks pretty trashed.”

“ _Don’t_ step on anything!” Pidge bellowed, somehow sensing Keith’s boot hovering above a random knob without even looking up. “Just, scoot in instead.”

“Fine,” he groaned, shuffling through the sea of metal and pushing aside enough to clear a seat next to them. “What was this anyway, how did it blow up?”

“S’not blown up,” Lance said as he tried to mash two parts together before grabbing another piece. “Coran gave us all the spare adapters on the ship.”

“And that’s because… why?”

Pidge’s eyebrows rose like a follicular dawn. “Because there’s got to be some combination that will let us hook up this,” she held up the antiquated game system her and Lance had bought at the space mall, “to the ship’s display screen.”

“Keith, imagine it. Mario Kart 64 in 64K. That’s the dream.”

“That’s not even a thing Lance,” he started, but Lance’s eyes had already glazed over.

“64K, that’s like, 64 times better than HD. Think of all the stuff we’ve never seen before we could see on it. You could count Peach’s eyelashes.”

“Lance, she’s a cartoon she has like 5.”

“Still though… 64K…”

Pidge rapped Lance on the head with a plug. “The ship’s more like 32K Lance, and I wouldn’t care if we played on 480p if we could play this at all. Here try this one.” The pair rejoiced briefly as it plugged into the now foot long chain of adaptors jammed into the cable. All too soon though they were scouring the floor for another piece.

“So what’s the endgame here exactly?” Keith was noticing the AV cables all had their own wands of adapters, along with a jumble of thick plug transformers and what looked like a piece of a toaster.

“We’ve got to convert the power supply over to the ship’s voltage and delivery method, then find a combination of AV adapters that will eventually let us plug into the alien equivalent of HDMI. Not too horrible actually.”

He was seriously starting to doubt that as Pidge threw another plug into the growing rejects pile teetering over her left shoulder.

“You should help us Keith. We’re looking for an omega sound adaptor that will fit with this alpha and switches to this kind of alpha.” The array of objects he held up could have not looked more like cat dildos after that sentence.

“ _WHAT_?” Keith sputtered. “Alpha… omega… what the heck?”

“Keith,” Pidge rolled her eyes, “you do know plugs and ports are nicknamed after genders right? Its just shorthand for the ends that plug in and the ends that get plugged, no big deal.”

“Right,” he mumbled. Stupid… his head kept jumping into thoughts about Shiro. It wasn’t his fault. He was allowed to be worried about him. After all, if Shiro was at the point where he was begging for help, chances were he’d been suffering alone for sometime. Hopefully Hunk and Pidge were tuned in enough to realize that. Hunk almost certainly, but he had his hands so full already he was bound to miss something. Pidge had her own issues, but there was a chance her brother knew how Shiro could be and let her on to that too. Whatever it was, it’d have to work as is.

“Hey Keith,”

“Mmm?” He looked up from the plug he was fiddling with.

“Can you start going through that pile on your left? I think I may have seen one around there earlier.”

It was easy enough to focus on the task at hand, digging through piles and holding pieces up to each other until a match was found. Lance and Pidge were smack talking each other the whole time, talking about who would kick who’s ass at what game and bragging about their accomplishment lists back home. Between the three of them they managed to track down another 4 adaptors Pidge reckoned they needed and were currently in the process of trying to find a Galran to Altean video adaptor.

“You’d seriously think the galaxy would standardize all their connection ports,” Lance grumbled after his fifth pass over a bright blue device.

“The ship’s 10,000 years old and the console’s probably another thousand back in Altean tech years, its surprising they even have this many adaptor systems built.” He’d recently given up on trying to find missing ports, instead attempting to create the tallest tower he could.

“Stilllll, Pidge don’t you think they should do that?”

She glanced up from her laptop. “It’s more or less happened with the Galran empire. They’re ruthless as hell but I’ve got to hand it to them they make some pretty half decent alien tech.”

“Well, they made a half decent Keith too.”

That last remark earned him a jab from Keith’s boredom stick.

“Take it back.”

“Aww, c’mon Keith, take the joke!”

More jabbing broke out into batting and then Lance tried to tug his jacket which meant the stick was discarded for hands as Keith tried to wrestle Lance’s big head into the confines of his hoodie. The son of a bitch was harder to pin down than he’d thought, his long limbs always just managed to get enough leverage to yank at Keith enough to never earn a full surrender.

“I can’t believe your lions thought you were mature enough to handle them,” Pidge snorted several minutes later after they’d managed to tangle themselves into an impasse, Lance pinned under Keith’s knee yet one of his arms somehow tangled inside and underneath Lance’s jacket where it lay, useless and slowly growing numb.

“We’re plenty mature,” he growled.

“Yeah Pidge!”

“Sureeee you are. Meanwhile I’m six foot one.” She picked up Keith’s poking stick and jabbed them both in the stomachs so fast Keith didn’t even realize she’d moved until the air was knocked out of him and he landed on Lance with an oof. He was about to protest again, Lance was already drawing in a breath to no doubt do so too, when Pidge’s laptop let out a little chirp.

“Ah… what’s that,” deflated Lance.

“Hunk wants to chat. Probably wants to reboot the kernel or something, I’ll be back in a few.” She scooped up her supplies and made to leave. “While I’m gone do you think you two can have the attention spans to actually work on this instead of climbing all over each other?”

“We’re not all over each other!”

“Uh, Keith?”

He looked down at Lance’s sheepish face butting against his elbow and shot back up to sitting.

“Not on purpose anyway,” he mumbled.

They ignored Pidge’s snickering, falling into solemn silence in their hunt for the next piece. Every so often Keith would catch Lance giving him glances over the adaptor of the minute. It went on like this until, growing frustrated, he snapped.

“What are you looking at?”

“You looked like something was on your mind.”

“That _does_ tend to happen Lance.”

Lance shrugged. “Well, it just seemed like whatever it is it’s been on your mind for a while. You’ve been dropping in and out of silence ever since you joined us. Figured I should ask in case you wanted to talk about it.”

“Well, I haven’t talked about it yet, so... yeah.”

“Okay, okay Keith. I wont press you.” And Lance went right back to scouring the piles, as if the conversation never happened. Was he seriously not going to? Lance of all people should be bound to be more stubborn than someone like Hunk and he was just dropping it?

“Fine,” he sighed. “I was thinking about Shiro.”

Lance glanced up as if Keith had simply asked if he wanted more coffee over the Sunday paper. “Was it the whole plug names thing?”

“Yeah…”

“Me too buddy, spent the first few minutes staring at some alpha-alpha adaptors wondering how the heck that would work in real life and then ended up side tracked just thinking about… well, all that stuff. Is it the bonding thing?”

“Mm, actually not.” Keith fished around in the pile and half-heartedly tried a piece on their ensemble. “It just… Shiro’s not the type to talk about his issues until he really can’t handle them on his own.”

“I can kinda see that now.”

“Yeah, it’s probably the reason why he wanted to try and keep this a secret from everyone. It just makes me worry, y’know? Stuff could be a lot worse for him right now than he’s letting on and unless Hunk and Pidge know how he is he could be suffering.”

“You want to know my thoughts?”

Keith looked up out of his momentary fog. “About Shiro?”

“Well, him and the others. If I know Hunk, and believe me, I do, he might even pick up on even more than you or me. It takes him a little while to get to know people but then after he can border on mind reader. He’s just got to be tuned in, and he’s bound to be tuned into to Shiro right now. Even if he’s not always able to watch over him every second you can bet everything he’s doing right now is to help him through this.

“Pidge too, but she’s probably more projecting than reading him. From what I’ve heard through Hunk she’s been on suppressants since she was 10 just in case. She’d have read up on everything and almost be able to predict anything that could happen to him. Anything that could be eating Shiro she’s probably thought of already. He’ll be okay in their hands Keith, try not to worry too much.”

“I guess…”

Lance smiled, a soft gentle smile that reminded him so much of Shiro Keith’s jaw nearly dropped.

“If there’s anything you think they’ll miss out on let them know Keith. We’re all in this together.”

Keith felt his mouth go dry. He was stunned, Lance had been like a bratty tween five minutes ago and now he was sitting there, looking at Keith as if he had all his crap together and was offering to help Keith organize his as well. He just nodded and turned back to hunting for parts. Lance, thank god, seemed to get he wasn’t quite ready to continue their conversation.

“Hey,” he asked a few minutes later, “how long have you two known each other?

Keith looked up from the foot-long fork he was now constructing. “What?”

“You and Shiro. I know you guys knew each other before the whole… Kerberos incident and all, but like when did you meet?”

“Oh. At the garrison.”

Lance blew a raspberry loud enough to make his bangs flutter. “Ummm, of _course_ at the garrison _how did I not think of that?!_ But seriously Keith, how did you guys meet? Did he ask you what’s with the mullet? Did you guys accidentally swap fingerless gloves and then have a _moment_ when you swapped back? C’mon, give me a bit more than _‘at the garrison’_.”

“Are you going to share too?”

“Well, I mean, if you want me to. We were in the caf and he was next to me in line. Told me not to get the chilli ‘cause it was full of old, half-expired hamburger patties.” A dopey smile spread over Lance’s face. “It was awesome.”

Keith cocked a brow. “You’re serious?”

“Yup. Then again, we never really introduced ourselves until he crash-landed back on earth, but I’d like to think that moment we shared over the soup station was meant to be. Your turn though.”

It was looking at a kid waiting for Christmas; Lance had his knees drawn up to his chest in a pose of raptured attention. Keith sighed and put down the fork.

“Okay fine, but don’t go thinking it was anything out of some gushy Hollywood movie.”

“Keith, I’m offended. Cleary you two met like in a giant robot movie.”

“Do you want me to tell you or not?”

“Okay, okay!” Lance settled into a less ridiculous position. “Just tell me already.”

“Uhh, well it was actually during the first week of the entry-level program. Y’know, right when we all got in before that whole year of basic training? Iverson had just given his spiel about the simulator and how he could tell from day one who had the chops and who would never get out of ground control, and well, it kinda rattled me a bit. So I might have… tried to sneak into the simulator the night before we were going to use it.”

“You? _For serious?”_

He recoiled at Lance’s reaction. “What? Other people did that for extra practice too.”

“No, it’s just… I can’t believe _Keith_ of all people was freaked out about flying! You gave like, the _least_ fucks out of everyone and still did amazing at everything!”

Keith fought the flush making it’s way into his ears. “I wasn’t great at everything!”

“ _Right.”_

“No… just… coming in with them basically expecting you to come out top in the class, it means you get to mess up that much less. I couldn’t screw up the simulator, not if I ever wanted to get on a mission. So, after curfew I made my way to the sim and tried to get inside. I didn’t realize they locked it at night, I was trying to pry the door open with a clipboard when Shiro walked in on me.”

“Did he drag you back to bed and tell you you were lucky he wasn’t a staffer?”

“No. He must have been watching for some time, and being in the upper levels he had the access code. Opened the door out of nowhere and I almost fell over.” _I actually did_ , he thought, but Lance didn’t need to know that. “He laughed and asked if I was a new recruit. It was awkward, like what was I supposed to tell him, that I was trying to break into it to test it out?”

“So what did you do?”

“I didn’t do anything… he just looked at me for a second and asked _‘do you want to practice?_ ’. I was so surprised I couldn’t talk for a second. Eventually I did though and he offered to teach me. We spent probably half the night in there before he said we should go to bed.”

That was the short of it, but there was so much more in that evening. The way Shiro had helped him off the floor and dusted him off, big hands so gentle on Keith’s frame. The way his eyes crinkled with a knowing kindness when he’d admitted his insecurity and how Shiro’s lips had formed around his words of encouragement. Keith could still remember warmth of Shiro’s hand on his shoulder as he made his first successful docking that night. He could feel it even now, grounding him to his wits whenever he flew with Red. It was just… Shiro. Something about him just exuded calm vibes that could keep even the worst of his nerves at bay.

“No way. Oh my god Keith are you serious?”

Keith blinked out of his reprise. “What? It happened.”

Lance could have just spotted a cucumber growing out of his ears his jaw was so slack. “Keith, don’t get mad or anything… but that is literally like act one to a sappy sci-fi rom com.”

“Shut up,” he snorted. An adapter was chucked at Lance but with no real force behind it. “Yours was a bad made-for-TV movie.”

“I still got a movie though.” Lance winked and tipped the piece like a top hat. “No wonder you guys are close, I bet he was one of the first friends you made at the garrison.”

Lance really didn’t know how right he was, or how long Shiro remained his first and closest. There were countless more stories like that one, ones he’d keep as moments known only to him and Shiro.

“Dude… Keith….”

“Huh? What?” He sat up straighter

“I think this is the piece. As in, _the piece_.”

“No way… you mean?”

“Yeah,” Lance’s eyes started welling up with tears, “we can finally play Diddy Kong. I’m gonna kick yours and Pidge’s butts so hard”

Keith scooted over beside the console. “Don’t get too cocky. I set some pretty mean times back in the day.”

“Hmm, look who’s talking. Might have to wipe that smug look off your face.” The foot and a half chain of adapters was crammed unceremoniously into the ship’s console and Lance hit the power switch. There was an agonizing 5 seconds, and then the display crackled to life with the familiar logo.

“I can’t believe this still works…” Lance’s eyes stayed locked on the start-up screen even as he came to sit back down beside Keith. A controller was passed to him and the pair exchanged a glance.

“Ready?”

“On three.”

“One,”

“Two,”

“…Three.” The screen flickered and flashed over to character select. Keith was just about to swipe Timber from under Lance’s thumbs when footsteps stopped behind him.

“You guys got it to work… I can’t believe it.” Pidge was back. Despite how anxious she’d been several minutes ago, the news seemed to do nothing to change the strained expression on her face.

“Hey Pidge!” Lance swivelled around to look at her. “Wait, what’s wrong? Something with the popcorn kernel thing?”

She was visibly chewing her lip. “No… nothing like that, the simulation’s running fine the ship’s got a ton of parallel processors. It’s Shiro… he wants you.”

“But we just worked out! Hunk has that spray bottle of our sweat, he doesn’t need… _oh_.” Some of the colour drained from his face. “Wait… so does he… like with us?”

“Pretty much. Hunk apparently told him you were both working yourselves close to the point of passing out – which by the way was totally not true.”

“Speak for yourself Pidge.”

“-Anyway, the point is that he refuses to inconvenience you both that way and now he’s saying he wants you were both there… in person. He won’t let Hunk come in and drop off any new clothes, he’s kind of backed us into a corner and is making less sense by the minute.”

“Hey, hey Pidge…” Keith jumped up and held her shoulders. “It’s okay, we’ll be fine, right Lance? We know what to avoid now.”

The other Alpha’s head bobbed, slightly less convincing than Keith was hoping for. “Right. We’ll just be in and out. No funny business.”

It was hard to say if Pidge felt any better at that. Still, she carried on.

“Allura will meet down on his deck with everything you’ll need and Hunk will be on hand nearby in case anything happens during. The sooner you get down there the better…”

“Will do Pidge.” He gave her a tentative pat on the head like he’d seen Shiro do once. Definitely not his thing.

“Does Allura have more zipties and all that?”

“Actually, I think she came up with something better.”

* * *

Lance was seriously doubting if this was better or worse. When they’d made it to Allura downstairs she’d thrust two med pod suits at them instead of their previous solution. Both him and Keith had given her questioning looks as she shooed them into stripping down and putting them on in front of her (all with the mild interest of someone noticing a dog hadn’t been neutered). _“They’re built to be both compressive and resistant to tearing,”_ she’d explained, launching into a side-track about how they had to accommodate the Alteans’ rough skinned allies. She’d topped them of with a collar around each of their necks, keeping the ends of the suits clasps out of reach. At first glance it seemed like a good plan.

Looking at himself and Keith now as they made their way to Shiro’s door, he was pretty sure it would have the opposite effect. Despite the relative lack of bulk the two of them had, the suits seemed to enhance what little they did. He could see the cuts of each back muscle through Keith’s suit, and his own shoulders felt broader. His thighs and calves looked better than any combination of shoe lifts or contouring he’d ever be able to conceivably achieve on them either. Sending them in in their regular clothes would have been so much better than the Altean fashion equivalent of P90X. If Shiro’s heat didn’t already have him wanting to jump their bones, this would certainly do it.

And all that was without evening mentioning how it was tucking him in place. There was no hiding his member without tucking it between his legs, and considering the inevitable he’d ended up leaving it where anyone with a discerning eye could spot it. It didn’t help the suits were beyond breathable either. 90 minutes into the future he would no doubt be scrubbing this thing over an open sink.

“You ready?”

Lance looked up, mouth drying instantly as he realized they were already at Shiro’s door.

He could do this. They were good Alphas, they were the types that could keep their heads during this, not go into a lust filled rut-like state. After all, they’d done it once before, what was to say they couldn’t again.

“Lance, you okay?”

“Fine!” he croaked too quickly.

Keith moved in closer, studying his face. “Could have fooled me. Is it the same thing as before?”

 _Bingo_.

“Maybe…”

“Hey,” a hand came to rest on his arm. “We know we just have to avoid the neck, right? So let’s just stay away from it.”

“Makes sense.”

Shiro’s scent, now intimately more familiar, curled around him as they stepped inside. Over the extra days it had distilled, becoming sharper, sweeter, no doubt every piece of fabric in the room was saturated with his scent. He fought down the water forming in his mouth. Already this was going to be no easy task.

The Omega was splayed out on the bed on his back, three fingers pushing in and out of his entrance. With each retraction of them Lance got an extra puff of his scent, warm and sugary and _so inviting_ he was fighting to stay balanced enough not to race forward and tumble directly into it. That wasn’t even half of it. Between Shiro’s teeth were a pair of his and Keith’s shorts, muffling his moans even as he sucked more of the fabric into his mouth. He was already this gone, even without noticing them.

It was the bowl Keith stepped into, clattering spoons and half finished food goo onto the floor that roused Shiro long enough for his eyes to snap open and settle on them. The clothes fell from his mouth, and for a second Lance thought he would flush with embarrassment, but it was the exact opposite. A warmth of excitement filled the Omega’s cheeks, his parted lips forming into a smile as he rose from the bed, fingers exiting himself with a wet pop. His eyes couldn’t settle between the blissed out look in Shiro’s eyes or the fresh rivulets of slick sliding their way down his legs at the sight of them.

“Alphas…” he sighed, closing the gap between them in four fast steps. Lance hardly had time to open his mouth in response before they were pulled into Shiro’s arms. He was nearly crushed into Keith as the Omega’s hands stretched around to the curve of their waists, their noses pressed into expanse of his collar bone. He forced his mouth shut taking sipping little gasps of air as he felt Shiro’s nose rub against his cheek.

“Missed you… thought you wouldn’t come back.” Shiro’s voice was a husky purr that vibrated down Lance’s spine to his cock and back and he just wanted to _melt_ into the other’s arms, let him use him however he pleased. The deep rumble of his voice was punctuated with a sharp _‘ah!_ ’ from Keith and Lance turned his head just enough to be greeted with the sight of Shiro’s tongue tracing along the curve of Keith’s ear, dipping into each and every rivet. He sucked in a sharp breath as Shiro’s teeth caught his earlobe and Keith moaned into Shiro’s chest.

“Needed you,” he continued, “Wanted you… but they said no… wouldn’t let me…” he continued to work down, Keith panting and gasping as Shiro left a trail of nips and saliva down his neck. If in this moment alone he’d had to guess, Shiro was anything but Omegan. They were trapped in his scent and arms, unable to break free unless they truly wanted to and Lance’s body couldn’t find the resolve to tear itself away from the warm comfort of Shiro’s bulk. It was as if every fibre of the Omega’s frame was for this, to keep his Alphas at his side and willing, overloading them until nothing but the thought of him filled their minds.

His lips ghosted over Lance’s ear and he could feel his knees cave beneath him. “Did you forget about me?”

“N-never… we couldn’t…”

His words were sealed inside with a kiss before he could even complete the sentence. Shiro licked in earnest over his lips, quickly delving beyond to press deep into him until Lance’s eyes were clouding over. Shiro tasted much the way he smelled, sweet and spicy, but there was an additional salt there as well. Lance closed his eyes, moaning with the realization of what that was. Shiro had mouthed so many of their clothes, sucking and tasting every last drop of them that he’d picked up the taste of not only Keith, but himself. He found himself returning what Shiro gave him with interest, hand twisting up into the Omega’s hair and handling him to force them even closer.

There was a growl to his left and then another nose was butting against his cheek. Keith, tired of being ignored, had begun to wedge his way between them, his own hand reaching over Lance’s to tug him and Shiro apart. He let out a warning snarl at Keith, teeth bared as he bit at Shiro’s lip, but Keith was either too unphased or too enraptured, his tongue tracing along the outline of Lance’s canines before darting forward to silence Shiro’s mewls. Lance was left to his own devices as the pair began to start anew, changing tactics to copy Shiro’s ear biting. By the sounds Keith was trying to swallow down the Omega was definitely feeling it.

“Bed. _Now,”_ he ordered. Somehow they made it over, the entire task made all the more difficult as they constantly fought for a space in Shiro’s mouth. This was going far too fast, the two of them trading off kissing Shiro so quickly the other barely had time to catch his breath between them. Hands were everywhere, Shiro was grabbing them anywhere he could, necks, waists, rears. Keith was getting more aggressive, fingers locked in the Omega’s hair even as he began to grope down and around the curve of Shiro’s ass. At the rate they were going he was going to be finger fucked before they even so much as touched the sheets, and Lance wasn’t about to trade anything in the world for the sight of Shiro sprawled out beneath them.

“ _Leave him._ ” Lance ran his teeth along Keith’s neck, giving him a sharp bite at the nape to tug him back. Keith surfaced from Shiro’s lips with a wet smack, eyes already glaring daggers at who would dare to separate him, but Lance was ready for it, taking the chance with Keith’s distraction to shove Shiro onto the bed.

“Show us what you need Shiro.” The edge was gone from his voice, now as smooth as honey as he eyed their Omega in the tangle of linens. Shiro’s lips, swollen and wet, twisted into a pout of momentary confusion. Lance could almost see the cogs turning in his head, processing the loss of contact and what he needed to do to get it back. A tease in itself, Shiro’s knee wobbled in it’s raised position, covering and uncovering the sight of his dripping cock, arms planted behind him with chest thrust forward as he best weighed his options.

“You have to be clear,” he purred, and could swear another bead of precum formed at those words. Keith had come to grip him forcefully at the elbows, holding Lance back as much as he was holding himself the look he was giving Shiro now enough for Lance’s cock to stiffen even more.

“You heard Lance, tell us what you want Shiro. Every. Last. Dirty. Thing.”

The Omega’s mouth fell open in a silent stutter, words trapped on his tongue as he fought with them. Moving seemed easier than talking for him now, Shiro moving clumsily to his hands and knees as Lance and Keith watched. Something bumped against the back of Lance’s thigh; Keith’s hand, now palming at his dick from outside its fabric confines. He joined in, a hand moving down to fondle his balls, just as Shiro arched his back.

Lance momentarily forgot how to breathe. The last time he’d seen Shiro in heat he’d had a half decent look - his face, his cock, his ass - but for every last inch of Shiro he’d dedicated to memory, this hadn’t been one of them. Shiro’s entrance was soft pink, looking just as smooth and supple as silk where it lay nestled between his cheeks. He let out a low whine at the two Alphas, two of his fingers reaching back and around to spread himself and they were greeted with the sight of just how _wet_ he was for them. His ass and hole glistened with slick, the ring of muscle twitching ever so often as it attempted to clamp down on something not yet there, serving only to push more and more lubricant from himself.

“P-please…” he whimpered, “f-f-fuck me. Fill my ass. Make me come…”

Lance nearly came on the spot.

He could hear the loud sucking of air beside him as Keith fought to keep a shred of control in his pants as well.

“Can we please fuck him?” he groaned.

“Allura took my knife. We could bite them off.”

“That won’t work she warned us.”

“Goddammit,” Keith hissed. He ran a hand through his hair. “No neck right?”

“No neck.”

Keith bit his lip for a second, before his face contorted into a smile so wickedly pleased Lance had to force himself to avoid touching himself again. “So I can still swallow his dick whole, right?”

There was a moan beneath them from Shiro accompanied by a fresh waft of his slick. “ _Please!”_ he begged, and Lance could tell he was on the verge of tears. “Eat me.”

“Actually,” he mused, expression matching Keith’s, “that’s not a bad idea…” The confusion on Shiro’s face was all the prompting he needed as he settled down beside him. Trailing a single finger along the cleft of his ass had Shiro whining loudly, the Omega pushing back on it as he traced his hole to push the digit inside. Only the barest hint of resistance existed. Shiro attempted to clamp down on him in vain as he pulled back out. “What do you think Keith?” he asked as he brought it up to his lips, Shiro’s eyes locked into his, “does he taste as good as he smells?”

“ _Better,”_ Keith hummed, and before either of them could react he shoved Shiro into Lance’s lap and dove between his legs.

There was a sharp gasp as Keith took Shiro’s cock into his mouth, a whine that crescendoed in pitch as Lance rubbed the butt of his finger up against his entrance as he handled Shiro’s legs up and around his shoulders. He was dripping near constantly now as Lance squeezed and jostled his cheeks, pushing him deeper into Keith’s mouth and making the other’s cheek bulge obscenely. He watched, entranced with the fluidity Keith moved with up and down the shaft, one hand twisting the base as more and more of Shiro disappeared between his blushing lips, spittle and precum beading at the corner. Lance was motionless, unable to tear himself away from the sight, until Shiro’s whines and timid rocking grew insistent enough for him to blink and break the spell. His eyes made their way down, away from Keith’s mouth and Shiro’s bouncing balls, to his task at hand.

Shiro’s puckered hole rested just below his chin, as pink and glistening as the Omega’s overkissed lips and just as intoxicating to look at. In another time, another place he could have been filling this, stretching Shiro out with every last inch of himself and teasing him until he was all but begging to be filled with his seed. For now he was set for a different goal, the aperitif, giving the both of them a taste of what could be later, knowing full well he was about to be the first to have Shiro in his mouth like this.

It made his heart quicken against the small of Shiro’s back.

 _Start slow_ , he reminded himself, _it’s just like kissing, the lead up is almost better than the real thing._ His lips pressed against the curve of Shiro’s ass, kissing and nibbling the salt of the globes but neglecting what lay between. It was a game of hot and cold, the further from his goal the more chaste his kisses, the deeper in Shiro’s valley the more he let his tongue drag over the sensitive skin, eliciting more and more whines from between his knees and below Keith’s thighs where their Omega’s head had come to rest. They served to punctate the noises from Keith, enthusiastic slurps and sharp inhales as he worked Shiro’s cock still deeper into his throat.

A long low groan from Keith and the loudest curse from Shiro yet had the Omega bucking onto his tongue, a full taste of fresh slick finally entering Lance’s mouth. By the soft hairs now resting against his brow Keith must have finally managed to take Shiro’s full length down his throat. That realization was second however, to the full taste of Shiro. It was like ice and warm honey, shocking him to a new level of clarity even as the sweetness lulled him back into boneless comfort. Somehow it tasted of his scent and yet was no possible combination of the notes Lance had ever picked up on, it was something else, unifying the cacophony of smells now flooding his brain into one perfect nectar.

The last shred of his restraint was gone. Gone was the plan to lazily tongue-fuck Shiro until he was forced to beg Lance in that flustered voice that made his cock harden, replaced with the single thought of **_more_**.

Lance’s grip tightened on Shiro, his mouth now sweeping over every last inch of Shiro’s ass to lap at every single trace of him. Not a drop could be wasted; every single offering his Omega made for him would be accepted by his eager lips, sucking and scraping until Shiro was licked clean.

That left only one place, the source. Even now a fresh pearl was forming, threatening to trickle away if left too long. Keith let out a hum in the vague semblance of _‘are you going to have that?’_ , cheek once again bulging with cockhead, evidently having watched a fair share of the show just now. Part of Lance wanted to switch, to taste the saltier edge of Shiro buried between Keith’s slick lips, but the hunger, the _need_ to be the first to claim him in this way was strong. Keith had already taken Shiro’s front under his tongue, and now it was his turn to claim the rear.

He licked his lips for emphasis, tongue rutting along each divot of his teeth as he smirked up at Keith.

“Oh, I’m going to _finish it._ ”

Shiro’s dick popped out of Keith’s mouth in one smooth motion, the other Alpha resting his cheek against it as if it was a beloved childhood blanket rather than a half-foot of manhood. A quiet whimper came from somewhere between their legs as Keith ran a finger along the tip. When he spoke, his voice was a husky purr.

“Not if I finish here first.”

“Game on,” Lance returned, and with that he nestled his face into the cleft of Shiro’s ass.

Lance’s nose came to rest in the soft bundle of curls around the Omega’s cock as he aligned himself with Shiro’s entrance, wafts of musk wrapping around him even as his lips sealed against the hole. At first he was content to simply give his attention to stroking the bud between them, tongue laving to and fro and relishing in how it twitched and practically _begged_ for his attentions, Shiro resuming his chorus of gasps and pleas. But there was a cry of ‘ _ahh, Keith!’_ and the briefest of glimpses through his lashes showed Keith had begun so swallow Shiro’s cock again with more enthusiasm, and toying with the edge was no longer enough.

His tongue pressed in, Shiro’s rim resisting for the briefest of seconds before welcome him inside, practically sucking him into itself. His eyes glazed over as the muscles contracted around him, Shiro letting out a string of curses and ‘ _oh gods’_ peppered with his name, one large hand clawing at his thigh like the only thing that could ground him. It was warm, soft and velvety beyond the ring of his entrance that continued to squeeze and give around his tongue. Lance’s hands held him tighter still, his knuckles must being close to white as he pressed himself into Shiro as deep as he could. His entire tongue was buttered with slick, fresh and hot and rich. He had to force himself to breathe, to stop rubbing against those needy insides and coaxing swallow after swallow of slick down his throat. Certain places yielded more than others, highlighted by louder noises from his Omega.

Lance slid a thumb in next to his tongue, the extra stretch gaining him access to even deeper reaches of Shiro. The Omega’s entire body tensed around him as his tongue struck gold, crushing him and Keith between twitching thighs. They doubled down, fighting the impulses to choke, driving Shiro deeper between the two of them, weeping from head to toe for more. And after all, his begging only served to drive them further.

There was a sticky blow to Lance’s head all of a sudden. Shiro’s cock, drooling copiously, lay throbbing against his eyebrow as Keith’s eyes rolled back, entire body arching as he moaned.

“ _Fuck! Shiro!”_

Lance forced himself away from Keith’s blissed out face to find the source. Nearly forgotten for his lower half, Shiro’s hands had come to settle on Keith’s hips. That alone would be nothing in itself, except for the shock of white hair peeking from around the silhouette of Keith’s ass, the noises coming from between his legs.

Shiro was sucking him off.

And Keith was _lost_ to it.

The other Alpha’s forehead came to rest against his own and he could see every part of it. The sweat beading on his brow, the hair clinging to his face, eyes squeezed tight fighting to keep his head. His lips were open, short puffs of breath fanning Lance’s face as he groaned and bucked down into Shiro. Lance found himself reaching up, trying to comb the locks away from his cheeks.

Everything froze when Keith’s eyes blew open.

Gone was the lilac ring around Keith’s pupils, gone with the furrowed brows and gasping breaths. The air was suddenly cleared of the scent of Shiro, replaced with the heavy fog of _Alpha_. The message was as clear as the lip curling up over Keith’s canines.

_Bite._

_Claim._

He felt his heartbeat still as Keith drew himself up, black eyes trailing along the soft flesh of Shiro’s thighs.

There was no time, no way to pull Keith or Shiro away, no means to distract either of them long enough to rattle them from this state. They were too tangled up, too inseparable to even begin and Shiro would be claimed, taken whether he wanted or not.

Lance stuffed two fingers into Shiro’s entrance and _twisted_ , even as he brought his face up to Keith’s descending mouth.

The kiss was rough, Keith’s teeth gnashing shut against his own as he opened up, taking the brunt on his bottom lip. The other barely had time to process before Lance drove his tongue deeper into his mouth, sealing them together as Shiro finally came undone between them, prostate milked until their chins and necks were frosted with his come.

As soon as it had begun, the intensity was gone, replaced only with the deep breathing of Shiro as he finally settled back out of his heat. Everything fell still.

“Keith… oh my god Keith… did I – did I try and do that to you _oh my god!_ ”

The black was receding in Keith’s eyes, and with it, realization dawning.

“Keith, I’m so sorry I can’t believe I did that I don’t know what came over me, you have to know I didn’t mean to-” but Shiro’s babbling was lost to him. Only Keith existed right now.

Keith, breaking away from him, staring at his bleeding lip in disbelief. Keith, trembling against Lance’s hand on his neck, as tears began to form in his eyes.

_Why was now, of all times, the only time he couldn’t manage to speak?_

“Keith… Lance, are you guys okay?”

No. They were not, not as long as Keith continued to look on in mute horror at the blood beading on his chin and melding with Shiro’s slick and come, one shaking hand resting on his own tainted lips. As long as they were like this they were further back than the start, than even the prologue of okay, because Lance could see Keith shattering in front of him and his heart was shattering with him.

“Yeah…” he croaked, “yeah, we just have a bit lip on accident up here. You okay Shiro?” He couldn’t look away even if he wanted to.

Shiro groaned, low and exhausted. “M’okay, just feels like waking up after a bad hangover, it’s like I can barely remember half of everything. You guys should ice that before it swells up. And about, uh, _that other thing…_ you think those suits are easy to wash?”

“I’ll go ask.” Keith jolted up and made for the door as fast as he could. Shiro was barely back down on the bed before he was gone. It was almost as if the bile rising in Lance’s throat was his. They’d been that close to disaster.

Unaware to it all, Shiro began to snuggle against Lance’s legs. His recent orgasm was leaving him drowsy, half thought-out words tumbling out of him while the remaining Alpha fought to hold control.

“I dunno why I did that. It was just… there. And it smelled so good and I was feeling good so I thought I should. Is it going to get you both in trouble? I could tell the others it’s my fault, Allura mentioned Pidge was being hard on you guys.”

“Nah,” Lance breathed, patting Shiro’s head, “probably better not to, we’ll find something to tell them instead.” Something that pretended the last three minutes had never existed hopefully.

“You’re hurt.” Lance finally looked down at him to find Shiro gazing up at him, sleepy and pure and concerned as he wiped the blood droplet from Lance’s chin.

“Yeah,” he choked. “I should go deal with it.”

But it wasn’t his lip that sent out waves of pain as he left the room. Deep inside his chest was tearing, ripping shred by shred between the man he’d left and the man that’d left them behind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ... and Some are Very, Very Bad.
> 
> For the future, in case you guys ever want to check in on me and make sure the other bits of my life aren't destroying my fic writing abilities, feel free to pop by my twitter (@teiandcake). Also happy just to chat about dumb things too!


	9. Bang-Ups and Hang-Ups can Happen to You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay guys! August was pretty much a write-off between last minute con panic and doing an entire move using solely the bus/subway system so I didn't get a chance to pick this back up until after Labor day >< We've likely got another two chapters after this coming, but the light at the end of the tunnel is almost there!

Within an hour of the pair heading down Allura had returned to the lab, one of the suits slung over her shoulder and the other dangling from a pair of tongs. She’d sat beside Pidge, flung the dirty clothes on the floor, and stared directly into her eyes.

“Be honest Pidge. Are there any toxins in human reproductive fluids?”

She’d nearly dropped her drink onto her keyboard.

“W-what??”

“Well, certain species are known to produce sexual fluids to stun or weaken their mate’s defenses in order to increase probabilities of offspring. Do humans do such a thing?”

“N-No! We just, well… its just gross because that came out of someone else. That and it can be a biohazard if that person has diseases or bad bacteria, but normally, no. Humans don’t have acid semen.”

“I was more considering a neurotoxin, but that is a relief.” Allura prodded the wad of fabric with her foot. A milky stain lay square in the crotch of one of the suits. “I was concerned we would have to dispose of these. A thorough cleaning instead should be enough.”

“Still, _gross.”_ Pidge stared at the mark for way longer than she’d ever want to. At least the two meatheads had managed to keep it in their pants, but did they really need to _do it_ in their pants? “Did they really both nut in their suits?”

“It depends. Keith came to me about 8 doboshes ago sporting the stain and insisting to have his collar and suit removed faster than I could manage. He left before he’d even put his shirt back on, and Lance came by a few after. When I mentioned his lateness and Keith’s suit he’d said something about ‘ _rubbing one out too_ ’.”

“ _Ugh._ I wish I hadn’t asked. You’re definitely going to want to wash those. Lots of bleach – or whatever the Altean equivalent for bleach is.”

“Maybe I should just dispose of it then,” Allura said sadly.

“Maybe,” she sighed back. “Or maybe you just keep them for Keith and Lance only.”

A wicked grin lit up Allura’s face. “That _would_ take a lot less effort. And if the suits belong to them it’s their responsibility to clean them.”

Pidge fought back a snort. “He did stain it. He can deal with it.”

The suits were tossed down a laundry chute without so much as another glance as the two of them settled down in front of the ships computer. So far the tests Pidge had been running had only been mildly useful. They’d eliminated a few combinations from sheer lack of simulated response, and another half dozen or so just from sheer dosage improbability ( _‘Pidge, 500mg of that stuff would be half the implant and it was less than 2% of the volume’_ ). Allura interjected ever so often, usually when a side effect popped up in one of the five simulated paladins.

“So the reason you just sprouted hair all over your body would be?”

“Too much testosterone mixed with extra FSH.” Pidge tapped her screen twice and sent the offending combination into the discard bin. “Even if it had worked as birth control I doubt Shiro wants to be shaving every 4 hours.” She sighed and keyed in a more conservative combination before adding it to the queue. “This is going to take forever.”

“What makes you say that?” Allura shifted to rest her chin on Pidge’s shoulder. “Is it because you manually have to enter in each combination? Wouldn’t it be easier for the computer to create new estimates based on the old ones?”

“Yeah it would, but by the time I manage to write a machine learning program for that and iron out all the bugs Shiro’ll probably be on his next heat.”

“Machine learning would be allowing the computer program to remember and learn from its mistakes, right?”

Pidge blinked. Allura was smiling at her, one of those bright beaming smiles she made right before bursting out in excitement. “Well yeah… why?”

“Exactly like the stored consciousness us Alteans can save to the ship?”

Pidge could have kissed her.

It took 40 doboshes and some dragging Hunk out of the kitchen, but at the end of it two digital replicas of themselves were hard at work, nattering away at each other in double-speed chatter about new tests. Finally free for the first time in hours, Pidge wandered around the castle in search of some way to decompress. She could have joined Hunk in the kitchen, baking up a storm of layer cakes and alien macarons, but one look at the delicate little lion shaped cookies he was piping out was enough to make her reconsider. Sure, if Lance or Keith was there she’d have considered, then at least there’d be two sets of sub-Hunk standard decorations, but doing fine detail work with him alone was more than likely just going to lead to frustration or sitting around.

Speaking of the pair… they had to be free now, and they _had_ just managed to get the game system to work. Pidge gave Hunk a rushed goodbye (swiping a cracked cookie off a cooling rack) and headed off down towards the common area. She was just about to hang a left and check to see if either of them were in their rooms when the door to the shower room opened. Lance walked out, bundled up in his robe and pyjamas.

“Hey! Lance!”

The other paladin jumped, clearly expecting to have been entirely alone judging by the face mask that now glopped down onto his shoulder as he let out a yelp.

“Pidge what the heck! Don’t do that to me!”

“Sorry,” she said, “but I didn’t think I’d bump into you here. You wanna play some Mario Kart?”

Lance began to fidget with the blob of mask now steadily dripping down his chest. “I don’t know Pidge, I was just about to head back to my room and chill out for a bit.”

“Oh come on, we can play a more chill game if you don’t want the stress of having your butt handed to you.” She cranked out the little sibling pout. “We spent all that time making it work and I still haven’t had a chance to try it yet. If you don’t want to play the whole time I’ll go drag Keith into it too. Do you know where he is?”

“I… ah…” If she didn’t know any better Pidge would say Lance was actively trying to avoid looking her in the face instead of saving his bathrobe. “He’s in his room but I really don’t think you want to bug him right now. He, uh, told me to leave him the quiznak alone for a bit when he left the showers.”

Keith was the time to need his alone time, but even that seemed a bit too far for just wanting 30 minutes to himself. Pidge squinted at Lance.

“Did something happen?”

“What do you mean?”

“Keith doesn’t cuss people out like that unless he’s really pissed. So clearly there’s something else going on here. What is it?”

“It’s nothing Pidge, really! He’s just grouchy and tired.”

“Somehow that’s only 20% believable right now Lance. Should I just go ask him myself?”

“ _No_! I mean… uh, that’s probably not a good idea.”

Pidge paused midway in her swivel towards the dorms, one eyebrow raised. She’d trapped Lance and he knew it. There was no way he could keep denying things, not with him frozen still, midway in his lunge to grab her sleeve.

“So are you going to let me know anything about what’s going on here?”

Lance screwed up his eyes, palms pressed up to his temples and fingers raking through his hair. After what felt like 5 eternities (or probably just 5 seconds), he talked.

“We might have had a… weird moment between us.”

“A weird moment,” she repeated.

“Like… goddangit… like with us touching each other in not exact no-omo ways. It was an accident! But still, uh, it’s a little awkward right now… him and me…”

“Lance, the fact that you and Keith bumped up each other’s wieners or something isn’t exactly the end of the world. We’re not living two centuries ago, Alphas can hold hands and people won’t burn them at the stake.”

“That’s not the point Pidge! It’s that it happened before we even realized what was going on! It came right out of left field!”

He was getting more and more worked up, hands running through his hair faster and faster. Pidge watched on in concern as Lance started spiralling for the second time in three days, removed enough from where he was he was completely oblivious to the streaks of green goo now gelling his hair back into erratic spikes.

She let out a squeak as Lance suddenly grabbed her by the arms, eyes suddenly snapping back into focus dead onto her own.

“Shiro… Pidge… you guys can’t let Shiro get like that again. He was so… dominating. You just walked into the room and his scent was so strong you couldn’t think straight even if you tried, it was like he was trying to mess us up to the point where we’d say yes to anything. He can’t get to that point again; it’s not safe. Not for any of us, okay?”

“I…” She hadn’t seen Lance this desperately serious about anything before. “… Okay. I promise, we won’t make him try and wait out any heat flares.”

“And don’t let him try himself either. Its better for all of us if he’s still mostly with it.”

“I promise,” Pidge repeated. She took his arms gently, her tiny hands sliding down from his elbows to his fingers, giving him a short squeeze. “We’ll make sure you all stay out of trouble. You guys did a good job if you made it through an Omega’s scent assault without doing anything, but we’d be stupid to let you all risk it again.”

“Yeah…” Lance stared down at their hands. “I guess. Did I wipe off half my face mask?”

Pidge stepped back, shaking droplets of goo from herself. “Pretty much. The other half’s in your hair.”

Lance let out a long groan and spun around back towards the showers. “I’ll see you in another half hour then.”

“I’ll be waiting with Zelda in the meantime. Don’t take too long!”

* * *

Lance somehow managed to cut his usual hour-long hygiene routine to a scant 15 minutes, though that might have been due to the simple fact that the only part he really had to redo was his shampooing. His overall low energy mood continued into their games, but at least his performance didn’t slack. They finished a full cup neck and neck for points before Hunk joined them with lion ice cream sandwiches, and from there the three of them traded off every race.

Partway through a particularly friendship destroying round of balloon battle there was a call to the communicator that was now always in the hands of either Hunk or Pidge. The older of them paused the game (conveniently right before a shell was set to hit him), and Hunk settled back against the couch to answer.

“Hey Shiro, how’s it going? More blankets? I can go check but I think Coran has stashed them all someplace where I won’t be able to find them. I can get you some towels though, I just threw in a load earlier today.”

Lance had turned around to watch, and Pidge couldn’t help but notice how his lips pressed together with each new response Hunk gave.

“Yeah, of course buddy, I can bring you something to eat too. I just made a whole bunch of sweets! You want some of the macarons I made?”

Pidge gave him a quick jab in the leg with her elbow and cocked her head at Lance. Hunk’s face screwed up in confusions, mouthing the words ‘ask about Lance?’ in disbelief before jumping back to talk about soup. Pidge gave it another try, whacking Hunk again and then pointing blatantly at the man’s crotch. _Now_ he got the message.

“Hey Shiro, you wouldn’t be asking for more bedding cause you’re feeling heat symptoms again, are you? I see. Got you.” He shrugged at her and gave a ‘so-so’ little hand waggle.

“Oh for cripes sake…” she stood up and yanked the phone out of Hunk’s hand.

“Shiro, it’s Pidge.”

“ _Oh, hey Pidge! You’re there too!”_

“What did you just tell Hunk about your heat? He’s horrible at miming.”

_“It’s nothing, really! I’m okay! Getting a little warm and drowsy but its nothing I can’t ride out for another hour or so. I don’t want to keep Keith and Lance from whatever else they have to do.”_

“Trust me,” she said as she watched Lance pick earwax out of his ear as he tried to follow their conversation, “they’re not doing anything crucial to the fate of the universe right now. Besides, Lance told me you let your heat go way too far earlier.”

 _“I didn’t!_ ”

“He said you smelled so desperate you would have had half the garrison breaking down your door to screw you.”

“ _I DID NOT!”_ sputtered Lance.

“Okay, I’m paraphrasing, but still Shiro. You and I both know how stupid that is considering how we have to handle this and all. It’s better for everyone if you just stay in low level heat for the rest of this.”

There was a long sigh on the other line. _“I guess… maybe I was a little bit too out of it last time I saw them.”_

“Glad you can admit it. And besides, with all three of you holding it together it’s way less inconveniencing than having any of you messed up out of your minds. Try and look at it that way before you use the ‘I don’t want to bug them’ excuse on Hunk or me.”

“ _Good point,”_ Shiro chuckled. _“You’ve got me there. So I guess they’ll be heading over in the next little bit?”_

“Yeah, and you can sort out the rest of your shopping list with Hunk. Hang in there Shiro!” She tossed the phone back up to Hunk and shut off the game console.

“ _PIDGE WHAT THE HECK? I WAS JUST ABOUT TO BEAT HUNK!_ ” Lance’s expression was stuck between mortified puppy and pissed to heck.

Pidge shrugged. “It’s not like you won’t be able to later. You heard the call, Shiro’s starting back up again and you _were_ the one insisting that he can’t be left alone like that.”

“But… but… _fine,”_ he pouted. “But you owe me.”

“I’ll kick his butt for you while you’re gone, how about that? Now go change and meet me down on the lower decks in 10.”

“10 matches?” Lance asked coyly.

Pidge gave him the stink eye as she backed out the room, yanking both controllers out of the box as she did so. “10 _minutes_ Lance. You should be happy, you guys get to spend more time with him, and not when he’s all hormones and sex instincts.”

“Yeah, I guess.”

“ _Lance._ “ She looked at him, hands on her hips. “Did something happen _other_ than you and Keith sharing a moment? Something you should tell us?” He seemed to pause at that, just a second too long of silence.

“It was a really weird moment okay? I’ll go get ready.” He brushed past her, heading around the corner to his room. “Want me to grab Keith?”

“No I’ll get him, it’s okay.”

She met Allura partway over, the princess yet again holding the two healing pod suits, though this time with tongs.

“They didn’t manage to get washed I’m afraid, but they’ll be better than nothing.”

“Great,” Pidge said, taking a pair, “I’ll go drop this off with Keith. Can you give that one to Lance?” Allura seemed grateful that the dirtier of the two was no longer her problem and dashed off down the hall in search of Lance, leaving Pidge to track down Keith.

It took nearly a minute of straight knocking for Keith to appear at his door, somehow managing to look both groggy and sleep deprived at the same time.

“What?” he snapped.

“Here,” Pidge thrust the suit into his arms. “You and Lance have to head down and check up on Shiro. Get dressed and let’s go.”

Keith looked at her as if she’d spoken to him in Altean. “What?”

“ _You. Lance. See Shiro. Make him good,”_ she mimed sarcastically. “What did you think I meant?”

“But… you want us to see him… now?”

“Ugh, _yes_. What’s with you and Lance anyway? He goes ahead and tells me you guys need to keep a closer eye on him to keep him getting out of control and now you’re both acting like little Alphas at your first dance trying to ask someone to a song. Just put your suit on, you’re all adults.”

“Ah, okay… I just thought…” Keith swallowed, turning the suit over to find the zipper. He jerked suddenly, the fabric falling to the ground as he stumbled back in disbelief.

“Th-that’s…” he managed, falling silent to point. Pidge sighed.

“We didn’t have time to clean your suits, okay? And if you guys are just going to mess them up like that more than one we might as well have you keep the same ones until this is over.”

Keith looked like he was desperately trying to hold back vomit.

“I know it’s kind of gross, but you just have to wear it for a little bit and then we can clean it twice as well, okay? At least it’s yours and no one else’s.”

Keith nodded slowly. He was still trapped in tunnel vision, staring at the suit on the floor.

“Was that thing with you and Lance really that bad?”

His chin snapped up. “Wait? He told you about that?”

She shrugged. “He didn’t really give any details, just said that you guys had a moment with each other and that you guys can’t look each other in the face now.”

“Oh… yeah… that happened.” Keith fidgeted with his gloves. “Don’t want a repeat…”

“Look,” Pidge said, coming to stand closer, “I’ll tell you what I told him. Two Alphas having a typical A/O or A/B moment is fine. No one here is going to judge you if it happened, no matter what base you guys ended up on.” _Looks like at least third_ , she thought to herself as she picked up the suit. “All three of you are hopped up on hormones right now when you’re together, there’s bound to be some times when stuff gets a little out of hand. But between you and Lance you’re holding it together keeping everyone safe, and that’s all that matters.”

She pressed the suit into his chest, giving him a little pat as she did.

“You guys are good Alphas. He trusts you. ”

Keith licked his lips and swallowed, taking it hesitantly from her. “I guess.”

“You are. Now go get dressed. We have to meet Lance and Hunk in 5.

* * *

Shiro was in bed when he heard voices outside in the hall. Pidge seemed to be saying something to the other party, who – by the mellow tone – seemed to be Hunk. They were going back and forth, words muffled out by the door, but judging by the volume there was nothing the matter. A third voice made a half-hearted grunt of understanding. Keith or Lance most likely. Pidge and Hunk were probably running through their helicopter-parenting checklist before letting them come in. He sighed and looked around.

He’d been pleasantly relaxed since he’d last seen them a few hours ago, like he’d just finished a good workout and stretch. It had been a bit of a pain to clean up alone. Immediately after he’d just wanted to sink back into his nest with Keith and Lance, just share a bit of comfortable silence together before they had to leave again. He’d been so ready to fall asleep, maybe rest his head on one of their shoulders and enjoy someone else’s company. But they’d left all too soon, taking that lazy Sunday morning feeling with them and leaving the ‘need-to-do’ feeling come back.

All in all it hadn’t been that bad. He’d gotten dressed for the first time in days, even if it was only a robe, and sorted the dirty laundry from the clean. Two nearly equal sized piles of blankets, sheets, and towels sat on his bed, the ones to the foot either so saturated with old slick or marked with one of his loads to be comfortable anymore. The other was made up of nearly clean or tolerably clean things.

He ran a hand over one of the dirty towels. A few specks of brown were mottled in with the all too familiar off-white of slick. _Lance’s blood_. It hadn’t been totally clear what had happened near the end. He’d come back into his right mind with his lips groping around the bulge in Keith’s suit and watching as the wet stain of Keith’s excitement blossomed from his crotch and down towards the leg. Even when he closed his eyes now he could see it. _Fuck_. He still remembered pulling away in shock, the needy Omega in him whining at how it wanted an Alpha coming down his throat, flooding his mouth with musk. Having those thoughts alone, riled up and grinding against their clothes was one thing, but right in front of them? _God_ , he hoped he hadn’t said anything embarrassing on top of that.

The more he’d fixated on it the more he was certain that had been why they’d gotten hurt. Keith had probably tried to jerk away when he’d become nothing more than a desperate Omega, smacking heads with Lance.

Shiro sighed. He needed to apologize for that. Lance had cut open a lip and Keith might have bitten his tongue. There _had_ been smears of blood at the edges of his mouth. They were putting up with him like this. The least he could do is make sure they’d still be a functioning team at the end.

_Hopefully better than just functional though…_

Lost in thought, he didn’t notice the door open until there was a loud yelp and Lance stumbled into the room, desperately trying to keep himself and a plate of food from tumbling to the floor. Shiro froze, dumbfounded, as Lance tumbled a full 50 degrees forward before catching himself with a herculean swing of a leg. It took his brain a full 2 seconds to buffer before he realized what to do in this particularly weird situation.

“Lance, you okay?” he dashed over and helped pull the blue paladin up from his near splits. Something crunched underfoot as he did. Blue and red crumbs covered his toes as he lifted them back up.

“Macaroons,” Lance said, looking down at the broken cookies as if they’d been a baby bird instead. “Hunk made them in the shape of all the lions, different flavours too.”

“It’s okay, there’s still some others here,” he said as he took a little charcoal coloured one and bit into it. Flavours of black sesame and heavy florals burst across his tongue. He eyed the rest of the plate. There was a green one and a yellow, as well as pink and orange. Hunk had made the whole team. Shiro reached for another and was pleasantly surprised to find it tasted like caramel.

“Dang, these are good,” he said between mouthfuls. “You want some?”

Lance pressed his lips together at the half eaten cookie Shiro held in front of him. “No thanks… I’m okay Shiro.” He seemed tired, almost strained. For the first time since Lance had burst into the room he looked around.

No Keith.

“Where’s…” he began, but Lance just looked down at the smashed pieces on the floor with the same expression as before. Shiro dashed over to the door. The hall was empty, save for a pile of crumpled towels at his feet.

“Where’s Keith,” he tried again, towels in hand.

He got a quick sidelong glance. “Couldn’t make it.”

“He couldn’t make it? Why?” This was not good, not good at all. Keith could have been more injured than he’d realized, or…

Shiro’s stomach dropped out and dangled haplessly somewhere around his knees. He could have made enough of a fool of himself that Keith didn’t even want to be in the same room as him. The crumbs in his mouth turned ashy, his appetite gone. He’d gone and done it now.

“He’s just… not feeling good right now.”

Lance’s words were as hollow as he felt. Another time he’d have appreciated the attempt, but now the white lie just drove the blade deeper into the wound. “Think it’s a stomach thing, should be gone by tomorrow and everything.”

“Oh. Got it.” Shiro collapsed back into bed. He’d been full of energy just a few minutes ago, but all he wanted to do now was curl up and sleep before he gnawed a hole in his cheek worrying. Keith didn’t want to see him, and it _definitely_ wasn’t because of a stomach bug. It wasn’t an injury either. Lance wouldn’t have lied then. Keith had decided he wasn’t worth seeing, and that was that no matter how he looked at it.

He groaned and pulled a towel over his face. He shouldn’t have been an Omega, he shouldn’t have been on the Kerberos mission. He should have stayed back in one of the many support roles, stuck a ten year implant in his chest instead of a two year in his good arm and maybe this wouldn’t have happened.

“Shiro, you okay man?” The mattress dipped beside him and the corner of the cloth was pulled up to uncover one eye. Lance looked down at him, lips thin with worry. “Something on your mind?”

Shiro yanked the cover back down, and fought to hold it as Lance tugged back. He kept at it, the strength of his Galran arm easily outmatching every pull Lance made.

“Fine. I give up.”

The corner dropped and he could feel Lance shifting around once again. His grip slackened, heart suddenly battering away and clogging his throat. It couldn’t have been that easy, was Lance leaving him this fast too? He tried to open his mouth, to find the right words.

Warm fingers found their way into his hair, firm but gentle as they began to massage his scalp. He could feel something bump against his temple, something warm and inviting, and he found himself leaning against it bit by bit, until his head was in Lance’s lap. There was a deep exhale above him.

“If you’re not up to talking I get it. I’m not going to force you to do anything you don’t want to, but if it’s important you should let me know.”

Shiro just curled in closer. There was another sigh, more relieved this time, and Lance continued to massage his head. His fingers worked their way down, playing with the shells of his ears before making their way to his nape. Shiro hummed appreciatively as they traced little circles into the knots there.

“Just because he’s not here doesn’t mean he isn’t worried about you, okay?”

“What?” He’d begun to drift off, sinking lazily into the curve of Lance’s thigh. He’d just started to forget.

“Keith. I know you’re upset he’s not here. Your mood just kinda… died when you found out he wasn’t with me.” Lance’s hand slowed to the barest stroking. “And I think I get it. You guys have so much history, of course you’d be sad. It’s him after all.”

“ _Lance…_ ” His name caught in Shiro’s throat. It was a loaded statement. Of course it was true, he knew Keith best out of anyone here. Or at least, he was pretty sure he did. They’d started out just spending time together in the simulator after hours, helping Keith to practice and even brush up on some things Shiro himself was getting rusty with. Over time they’d talked about other things, their hopes and dreams, their families. Once or twice Keith admitted things to Shiro he hadn’t said to anyone else. Denying that fact was pointless, Lance would know he was lying. But agreeing… downplaying the fact that Lance was still here…

“It’s my fault, isn’t it?”

Lance’s hand stopped completely. “What?”

“Keith not wanting to be here, you guys getting hurt, roping you both into this. It’s all my fault.”

Each tick of silence between them stretched on for eons. He wanted Lance to move, to say something, _anything_ other than leave him to imagine what was going through the other’s head.

The cloth on his face was pulled away, revealing Lance, smiling with everything but his eyes at Shiro.

“That’s giving yourself an awful lot of credit, y’know.” He readjusted, pulling Shiro’s head between his crossed legs, resting his elbows on his knees until he gazed down at him. “That’s saying it’s your fault that you were captured and your arm was cut off. It’s saying it’s your fault your suppressant ran out when it did. It’s saying it’s your fault you were born an Omega.” He blinked, the softest snort of laughter escaping as one corner of his mouth twisted into a more genuine smile. “Next thing I know you’ll be blaming Zarkon’s lust for galactic domination on the fact that you were born this way.”

“I… I didn’t…” Shiro breathed. He was completely transfixed by the soft light reflecting from the other’s eyes.

“I know you didn’t Shiro, but you might as well have.” He pinched the bridge of his nose. “Look… who was the one that suggested this all start in the first place?”

Shiro’s head twisted to the side, not unlike a cat. “Who… suggested it?”

“Suggested Keith and I try and help you manage your heat. That was me. I did that and Keith agreed, and now we’re here. So if you’re feeling like blaming yourself for right now you need to blame me too.”

Shiro gazed up at Lance. It would be an easy thing to do, to take all these feelings directed at himself and push them onto Lance, go ahead and say the events of the past few days should never have happened so long as he and Keith had minded their own business. But he couldn’t. He eyed the faint bruise on Lance’s lip, and how the same colour was spread beneath the other’s eyes. Lance was fighting his way through this, the same as he was, the same as Keith.

He couldn’t make himself hate them.

“Shiro… hey… Earth to Shiro. What are you thinking about big guy?” Lance had resumed thumbing at Shiro’s temples, small circular motions kneading right into the spots of tension.

“I think planning to rely on squash was a dumb idea.”

Lance nearly smashed heads with him as he barked with laughter.

“ _OH MY GOD_. WAIT. Did Hunk or Pidge ever tell you they’re basically giant chilli peppers? Can you image what would have happened if you actually used one?”

“Wait, **_that_** was why Pidge ran in and took the whole box of them?” Shiro’s face practically burst into flames. He’d almost begged her to bring them back the day after she’d whisked them away. “Oh god… that would have been… _so not good_.”

“I guess it’s a good thing Pidge stopped you from leaving then. You would have found out in the worst way possible. Lightyears from a healing pod too.”

Shiro buried his face into the back of Lance’s knee. “Can we stop talking about it please? It’s like I can already feel the burn.”

“Sure, sure,” Lance chuckled, and started ruffling Shiro’s hair again. “I think I can deal without picturing you shoving vegetables up your butt.” He continued on massaging Shiro’s head, humming a half forgotten tune as he did. Shiro settled in, pulling a bit of his nose out from Lance’s knee so that he could watch the other from the corner of his eyes.

“Hey, Shiro?” Lance said a minute later.

“Yeah?”

“Is there a reason why you wanted to hide the fact you’re an Omega?”

Shiro sucked in a breath.

“You don’t have to talk about it if it’s a painful one, I was just wondering. Pidge doesn’t like strangers knowing but she almost prefers her friends to. So that we can have her back when she needs us.”

“I guess…” he sighed, “it’s because I never wanted to be a token. The token Omega pilot, who only got picked to lead a mission because _‘he’s the first of his kind to do so’_. I didn’t want to be held back or belittled for what I did do just because of how I was born. I could pass for an Alpha so that’s what I let everyone believe. After that, I guess I didn’t want you all to think less of me because of it.”

“You really think we’d think less of you?”

“… Maybe not, but does an Omega leading you give you the same confidence as an Alpha? I’m not some dumb Omega bimbo from the movies, fainting everywhere and a total slave to my he– _FUCK._ ” An all too familiar twang in his lower abdomen rippled through him. With it, a patch of moist warmth flowed between his thighs.

“Not now…” he moaned.

“Shiro, what is it?” Lance jumped forward, alarmed, but Shiro didn’t need to spell it out for him. Even as Lance leaned over to check on him he could see realization dawn on him as he got his first whiff.

“Oh crud. Your heat’s back in full, isn’t it?”

“Almost…” he sucked in a breath as he clutched his stomach. “But it’s still pretty low, 4 or 5 at most.”

“Okay… okay… we’ve got this, we can do this.” Lance was beginning to run his hands through his own hair now, faster and faster. “I just have to calm you down before it gets worse and that’s that. We’ve done this before, this is good…”

Shiro rolled over, now facing Lance. He was right, they’d gone through the steps several times by now, Lance just needed to help him get off one way or another and keep his wits about him. He could either finger him like before or maybe even just a handjob would get the job done. He felt a fresh wave of slick drip out of him, shuddering in anticipation. He was empty and too hot, but craved the warmth radiating from Lance. It was building up now, faster than before, at least a 6 now. It was about then that he chanced a look at Lance’s groin.

The Alpha wasn’t even hard, far from it in fact, but the tight fabric he wore was clinging in maddening places. It was a striptease. Shiro had a sense of everything but no clear picture. Lance tucked to the right, a commendable length as it was, but time would tell if it could be coaxed to grow. His balls rested close to his body, held in place by the spandex that protected them, pressed down in such a way he couldn’t get a sense of their size or volume of come they could produce. The thought to suck him off came to mind. After all, _what good was it to buy a car without a little test ride first?_

Shiro bolted from Lance’s lap, nearly falling backwards off the bed. How could he, _why_ was he thinking that way? He knew it even as his senses grew heightened and the muscles inside him gave a desperate little twinge. His heat was getting stronger by the second; it would only be a matter of time before he ended up a panting drooling mess.

“Shiro! Are you okay?” Lance made to reach out to him.

“S’getting worse…” he gasped. “It’s faster this time, we need to do something soon or else it’ll get out of hand really fast.”

“Fuck… okay okay, uhm…” Lance was giving him a once, twice, ninth over, seemingly unable to decide how to deal with this. He was totally lost.

That was when Shiro caught it. Something wrong, something off about Lance’s scent. It was like someone had taken a rag of bleach and tried to scour away a part of what made Lance Lance. It was wrong, and every part of Shiro hated it, wanted to fix it. His Alpha – no, _Lance, his friend_ – was in distress. He needed to calm him down, help him relax and breathe and they’d work through this. At that thought he felt his insides ripple, yet more slick dribbling out of him still, and Shiro smelt his own scent take over the air.

Being able to smell oneself was a strange thing. It was like hearing yourself on tape, only with scent. It wasn’t unpleasant either, like in sweltering heat or on gym days, beyond the weirdness and the fog forming in his brain he had to admit he didn’t smell bad, soothing almost. That was what he had to do, what Omegas were good for. He needed to soothe his Alpha, help calm him to a point where he could help Shiro in turn.

Lance stiffened at first, frozen at first whiff. Not good enough, Lance needed to relax. Shiro moved closer, a hand pressing onto the other’s knee. He watched as Lance’s eyelids fluttered lower, watched as his shoulders began to loosen. That was good, he was calming down. Lance’s eyes grew glazed, almost dreamy, his pupils slowly dilating from their initial constriction of surprise. Shiro leaned closer.

He kissed Lance without a breath of resistance on the other’s part. Lance’s lips opened slightly, allowing Shiro further entrance inside. It was chaste, Shiro’s tongue remaining in his own mouth as he kissed along Lance’s top lip. Small short sucking to coax him along, warm him to the idea of contact. He moved to the bottom, rolling the supple flesh between lips and teeth, more insistent now, ready for his Alpha to move on him. He nipped harder and Lance gasped.

Shiro was shoved, held back at the shoulders. He let out a mewl of protest, pulling Lance’s lip with him as he went until it broke from his grasp and back to Lance’s face. _Lance’s face._

The Alpha’s eyes were near black now, barely any of the stormy blue remained: an Alpha ready and willing for his Omega. But his mouth, pink and plumped from Shiro’s attentions, was twisted in aghast.

“Shiro…” he croaked, and he could hear Lance fighting through his instincts with each syllable.

“Shiro… I can’t… I… I can’t.”

He was forcibly pushed back, off of Lance and onto the pile of dirty laundry as the Alpha sprang from the bed and began to back away.

“I’m… I’m sorry… I can’t do this… I’m sorry Shiro.”

Before he could even form a single word, a single protest, Lance was gone, leaving Shiro cold and alone with a rising sense of dread. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> like pretty much any writer, thoughts and comments are always loved no matter what! if you ever want to track me down elsewhere i can be found on twitter at @teiandcake


	10. Alone Can be Something You'll be Quite a Lot

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Heavy feels and heavy klance forecasted for the next 3000 words

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, uhm, would you guys object if I started calling the chapter titles bad Dr. Seuss puns?

“ _Keith._ What the _hell_ are you thinking?”

Lance slammed open another door, his _tenth_ , to finally find the other paladin crouched down in the corner of the tiny office, arms wrapped around his knees. At Lance’s burst in he swivelled around, eyes narrowing in disgust.

“What are you doing here?”

“What am _I_ doing here? What are _you_ doing here?” He crossed the room to tower over Keith. “Shiro needed us and you decided to shove me in there and bail. What gives?”

Keith sniffed the air, the corners of his mouth pulling down even further in a grimace.

“Clearly you didn’t need me. You reek of him by the way, did you know that?”

Lance was done. _Done with this_. He’d had to force himself to flee from Shiro and pinch a nipple just to have enough pain to cut through the siren snare of Shiro’s scent, spent five minutes out in the hall slapping himself to get back to normal. He’d wanted to take Shiro, to claim him, _breed him_ , and Keith had left him wide open to do it. If he’d had one second more of weakness, who could say if he’d still be here or buried knot deep in Shiro. The thought made his sober self sick. Keith didn’t get to get off telling him he smelled like a one night stand. Not after that.

“ _Yes,_ I’m _aware_ Shiro’s in heat,” he spat. “Now fess up. Why the quiznak did you think you could just go off and chill in some… is that an alien stapler? No… that’s beside the point. What the fuck was going through your head?”

Keith unwrapped himself and glowered up at Lance.

“You tell me.” There was something in his expression, something other than anger that made Lance soften his approach somewhat. His stance weakened, becoming less threatening and more neutral. Keith stared at him a few seconds more, before muffling his face back in his knees. “How did you know where to find me?”

Lance sighed. “I know you couldn’t go back to Pidge and Allura to get undressed without me and you weren’t about to skulk off someplace in the castle where you wouldn’t know when it was safe to head back. I just had to try a few doors in the hall.”

“Smart.”

Keith fell back into silence, staring somewhere three feet beyond Lance’s kneecaps. If he didn’t know better, and he did, Keith wanted the conversation over and done with. But he wasn’t about to let that happen. They needed to get to the bottom of this before he pulled another rash stunt like this one.

“Look,” he said, trying to massage his rising headache, “I know that last time really spooked you. It scared me too. But you can’t go off like this, it’s not safe.”

More silence.

“Don’t you care about that? We need to keep him safe Keith, that’s what we got ourselves into here, he’s our responsibility now!” The other paladin just continued to gaze into empty space. _How could he not care?_ Lance wanted to shake him, hold his head in his hands and force him to answer, show _any_ emotion about this. Keith was just _there_ , face as still and emotionless as stone as he continued to yell at him.

“Something could have seriously gone wrong, Keith! I could have hurt Shiro!”

“But you didn’t.”

Lance froze.

“Wait what…?” he asked dumbly. Keith’s chin was burrowed so deep into his legs he didn’t even see his lips move. Only the reflection the blue lights on his eyes was visible in the minute gap between bangs and knees.

“You didn’t do anything, did you?” Keith’s words were slow, a forced evenness weighing on every word. “He’s fine. You took care of him and there isn’t a single scratch on him.”

“Well… yeah, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t fricking hard.”

“But still. You didn’t do anything.”

“What are you getting at?” Lance crouched down, trying to get a better look at Keith, but the other paladin just hid his face even more. He made to tug one of Keith’s legs away but was greeted with a slap on the hand.

This was wrong. It wasn’t Keith. His lips felt dry. Lance licked them, trying to think of something to open Keith up.

“He was worried about you, you know? Shiro. You should have seen him Keith. The second he realized you weren’t with me he went looking for you and started sulking. Went and curled up in bed and didn’t want to talk.” Lance tried to place a hand on Keith again, this time starting feather light as he worked into a compassionate squeeze to Keith’s calf. “It seems he thinks he did something wrong and that’s why you didn’t want to come. I tried to tell him that things weren’t anyone’s fault but I think he needs to hear it from you that everything’s okay.”

Keith’s shoulders drew up higher as he hugged his legs closer still. Lance continued to run a reassuring hand up and down Keith’s leg. He was getting through, _he had to be_. Keith wasn’t shoving him away now, he wasn’t even flinching at his touch.

“He really missed you Keith. He’s probably desperate to see you right now and that’s without any heat feelings attached. Shiro cares about you so much. Shouldn’t you let him know you do too?”

His hand came to rest on Keith’s knee, waiting. He wasn’t going to leave until they’d talked, even if it took hours for Keith to find the words. They needed to know they were on the same page, let alone the same chapter if this delicate balance was going to hold any longer.

“Are you sure?” came Keith’s voice. Tiny, muffled.

“I’m sure.”

Keith shook his head, hair swishing over Lance’s hand.

“A-are you sure he’d still feel the same way if he knew everything?”

Lance stared. The earlier dryness had begun to creep down his throat, a seed of unease with it.

“O-of course he would. He’s Shiro. He’ll understand it was just a mistake if we tell him. Nothing even happened in the end, my lip’ll heal just fine.”

The fabric of Keith’s suit warped as the other paladin dug his fingers into his flesh. “You don’t understand.”

“Then tell me!” Lance’s hands jumped up to Keith’s shoulders. “Tell me what’s wrong so I can help!”

“You know what’s wrong…”

“I don’t know!”

“You do.”

“I don’t!”

“You _do._ ”

“ _Clearly_ I _don’t,_ because _EVERYTHING IS GOING TO SHIT KEITH_! _”_ Lance was shaking now. He was trying, trying so hard and Keith was still being like this. “ _SHIRO’S A MESS, I’M BARELY HOLDING IT TOGETHER, AND YOU CAN’T EVEN BRING YOURSELF TO TELL US WHATS GOING ON IN YOUR FAT HEAD!”_

Lance was thrown down onto the ground before his body even realized the wind was gone out of it. Keith had snapped, one elbow pressed against Lance’s windpipe, holding him hostage like a defenseless animal. He could only stare up at Keith, trapped in the wildness of the other paladin’s eyes as Keith screamed back at him.

“ _I WAS GOING TO CLAIM HIM LANCE!”_

“ _I KNOW THAT!”_

 _“NO YOU DON’T!_ You don’t know what that means! You don’t know…” Keith paused for breath, and in that small instant Lance saw the single tear track down his cheek.

A crack in his mask.

“I… I wanted to claim him. I wanted him as mine and mine alone, hide him away, out of sight from anyone, just for me. I wanted him under me, moaning my name… begging… begging me to fuck him because my cock and my cock alone would do… To have him stay home, look after our kids…”

“That’s… that’s not… it could be worse Keith.”

“ _You don’t get it Lance!_ Right then… I wanted… I wanted him…” Keith looked three words away from throwing up. His face couldn’t settle between the blotchiness of near tears or the grey-green tint of disgust. This was Keith like he’d never seen him before. Lost. Unsure. Terrified. Before, even when Lance’d wondered if he was ever feeling that way there’d never been more than a mere flicker of weakness on Keith’s face. Keith did confused. He did brooding. But he never did this. This Keith may as well have been captioned in bold as he tried to choke out the last few words, and Lance felt his stomach drop as he realized what Keith was struggling to voice.

“…wanted him to be… to be…”

“You wanted him to be the perfect Omega,” Lance finished. Keith looked away, mute, and Lance knew he’d landed on it. There was a sick twisting in his gut, the same feeling he’d felt the instant Keith had locked eyes with him that fateful moment, the same feeling Keith no doubt felt now.

“You wanted him to be your mate and nothing else.”

Keith let in a breath, as desperate and laboured as if he’d aged a hundred years and for the first time truly saw his face. The lines in his brow that hadn’t been there before, cutting his skin like culverts collecting his grief. The wet sheen to his eyes, always one step away from overflowing but holding the flood back by sheer will, the puffiness below, clinging onto the few errant tears trying to slip through. He’d known. Even without Shiro ever telling him, he’d known why the other had hidden what he really was. Maybe he’d put two and two together over time or he’d always known. But Keith knew Shiro wanted anything other than stereotypical life of an Omega. He’d wanted to lead, to inspire, to be judged for who he was and not _what_ he was. And in that one second he’d chosen to ignore all that.

Keith had no doubt beaten himself a thousand times for this already, no doubt denied forgiveness each and every time. Nothing he could say would be worse than what Keith had already said to himself when coming back to his senses.

So instead he wrapped him in his arms. Keith didn’t seem able to compute what was happening as Lance sat and pulled Keith into his lap. He didn’t even attempt to fight as Lance hugged him close, one hand against his back and the other against his neck as he tried to coax the shaking breaths from Keith’s chest.

“It’s okay…” he whispered.

“No… no it’s not… I knew and I didn’t even care Lance.”

“No, I mean… it’s okay to cry Keith…”

“I’m not-”

Lance could feel a prickle in his own eyes. This was beyond messy. Messy was four house parties and a rodeo away from where they were now. They were lost in a sea of deep shit, clinging to the last scrap of driftwood trying not to go under. “Even if you’re not…” his voice cracked, “I wouldn’t blame you if you wanted to.”

“I’m not- ” But Lance cut him off, pressing Keith’s face against his neck. He stroked up and down the other’s spine, listening as Keith’s breathing began to calm before ramping back up, shaking them both as his shoulders heaved against Lance’s chest. He kept holding him as his gasps turned to sobs and his shoulder grew damp under Keith’s weight, tears streaming silently down his own cheeks. Lance continued to hold Keith, nose pressed against Keith’s shoulder throughout as he let the red paladin release. _What was he supposed to do?_

_What could he do?_

“If I’d… I’d never have…”

“I know you wouldn’t have.”

“Shiro… he’s…”

“I know he is.”

“I… I love him.”

Lance squeezed Keith tight, tighter than the knot around his heart. “I know you do.” And he knew he did. Maybe he’d been blind to it before, chosen to ignore the signs, but it was true. So much of what Keith did he did because of Shiro. The rescue, the searching, the very finding of Voltron itself, all in the hopes of bringing him back to his side. There was so much he knew and more he didn’t. All Lance knew right now was that Keith, _this Keith_ , needed him more than ever before.

Keith stirred in his arms. “I… I messed up so bad, didn’t I?”

Lance swallowed. There it was. The one question he still didn’t know how he should answer.

“I did, didn’t I?”

“It… I was only a matter of time before one of us got slipped up.” He could feel Keith sag against him and hated himself. “It just turned out you went before me.”

“But I still… and you didn’t.” Lance felt Keith burrow deeper into his shoulder. “It should be you.”

“What?” Keith could have slapped him over the head with the backside of a barn and Lance would have been less stunned.

“You should look after Shiro,” Keith continued, and Lance could hear the frenzy in his voice. “You won’t snap like I did, it’ll be safe, you’ll ride out the rest of his heat together and if another one comes before Pidge comes up with an antidote you be in charge of dealing with him.”

A week ago those words would have put Lance on Cloud 9. Now he only felt the same nausea Keith no doubt felt.

“No…” he breathed. “No, I can’t.”

“You _can_ , and you _have to_.” Keith’s authoritarian voice returned for the briefest second. “Shiro needs you.”

“No,” Lance tugged Keith off of him and held him at arm’s length. The red paladin flopped like a rag doll, head hanging down between them. “Keith, _I can’t_. I won’t be able to, _I know I can’t._ I- I… I’ll claim him next time for sure.”

“Next time?” Keith looked up him, puffed eyes still half hidden behind his hair. “Wait… what happened this time?”

Lance’s stomach flip-flopped in a half-hearted attempt to leap out his open mouth.

“I… I was ready to claim him.” He couldn’t look Keith in the eyes but still felt the other paladin jolt in his lap. “He started going into full heat, _fast_. Keith… it was like one second he was fine and then the next he was trying to push me down. His scent just… exploded, I can’t even explain it… like, like it was 5 and then suddenly went up to 11 and I couldn’t even think.”

“ _You didn’t!_ ” Lance braced himself for a slap, anything, but nothing came. He swallowed and forced himself to continue around the gag in his throat.

“I didn’t, but I would have. He was kissing me and I couldn’t even fight back. If he’d asked me cut my own dick off then I would have.”

Keith looked like a cat startled halfway through dry-heaving “Wait… you didn’t? But how… how did you…”

“I didn’t… well, I… it wasn’t that I could fight it… it was dumb luck,” Lance said with a sad sigh, and brought Keith’s hand to his face. He watched as the other looked at him in confusion, nose crinkled in that perfect Keith expression before his mouth fell open in understanding.

“The bite.”

Lance nodded. “He nipped me there and all I could see was your face.”

Keith traced his thumb over the lump. “And that was enough for you to get away.”

“Just barely.” Lance stared down at his lap. “I don’t want to think about what would have happened if I hadn’t.”

The two of them sat in silence. Ever so often Keith’s thumb brushed against his lip again.

There was a sudden bark of laughter and Lance’s head whipped up in disbelief. Keith was laughing, _laughing_ , even as fresh tears were beginning to form in the corners of his eyes. He was shaking his head, face blocked with one hand, sprinkling them with fresh drops.

“This is all sorts of fucked up, isn’t it?” he choked. “Shiro’s out of his right mind and we’ve barely got a hold of ourselves. We’re one more fuck up away from a disaster.”

Lance found a smile trying to fight through as he sighed. “Pretty much.”

“And we dug ourselves so deep into this hole the only way out is to keep on digging. We’re fucked.” Keith laboured to catch a breath, the laughter dying down. He looked exhausted.

“I just want this to be over Lance. I want his heat gone for good and we just go back to how things were. Just pretend this whole thing never happened.”

Right now Lance wanted that more than anything. He wanted to wake up tomorrow, to find out that this was all some awful fever dream and everything was fine. Shiro standing there on the bridge, arms crossed and smile radiating on his face as they walked through the door. Their leader. Their… Alpha. But he wasn’t. The image dimmed in his mind, replaced with Keith gazing at his swollen lip.

He felt dried out and drained.

“You think we’ll be able to? After everything we’ve gone through?”

Lance watched as Keith hung his head, raven locks swishing as he shook them to and fro.

“I don’t know. Probably not, but I just want to stop reliving it every time I shut my eyes. I want to be able to look at Shiro again without hating myself. It’s like I’m still stuck back there, in that moment.”

His brow came to rest against Keith’s before he even realized it. The two of them sat there, staring down through the space between them as Lance wound his arms around Keith’s shoulders.

“You’re not stuck there alone. I’m with you Keith. We’re here together.”

The other let out a cracking breath.

“I need to remember that.”

“You do.” He could feel Keith jostle him as he no doubt tried to quench any more tears before they came. He just continued to look at where their hips met.

“So… so about Shiro,” Keith sniffed. “We can’t just leave him… right? Not right now… Is there a way we can help him cope one last time and it’ll be enough for him to get through the rest without us?”

“Keith,” Lance said.

“What if we made him come even when his heat wasn’t flaring, would that do anything?”

“ _Keith.”_

The other seemed to startle in his lap, but Lance’s eyes were locked down at where limbs met torso. “What?” His fingers ghosted down the expanse of Keith’s stomach, down lower, and Keith squirmed. “ _Lance, stop…_ ” fell weakly from his lips as they stopped at the upper crust of the milky stain.

“You’re still in the same suit,” he breathed. “They put you back in it…”

There was a pregnant pause. Keith was silent, but his eyes flew wide as Lance’s face snapped up to meet his.

“I… _ah_ … Pidge said they didn’t have a chance to wash them, and I couldn’t tell her why I wanted another one, or just _not to go,”_ Keith mumbled. “Lance, it’s okay, I’ll get out of it as soon as we can go back…”

“No.”

“Wh-“

“ _NO._ ” Keith went silent, even Lance was startled with how strong his voice was. “No,” he repeated, “no, it’s not okay. You’re getting out of it now.”

“But… there’s nothing to change into… the collars…”

Jaw set, Lance took hold of one of the many Altean office supplies – something along the lines of a stapler or set of giant tweasers – and set the clasp of Keith’s collar in their maw. It snapped between them with two hard clamps, the pieces clattering onto the floor like broken glass.

Keith stared at him mutely as he began to unzip the suit.

“Do mine as well.”

Keith took the stapler and began to grip away at the ring holding Lance’s in place, startled into silence as he did. He’d never noticed how small Keith’s shoulders looked in comparison to Hunk or Shiro’s, not until he was slipping the fabric off of them and winding it down Keith’s chest. The red paladin had never been delicate, but right now Lance felt the need to take extra care as he separated Keith’s hand from the arms. He felt his own collar snap.

“Take it off.”

Keith obeyed. Lance felt the chill of the room brush against his neck as Keith unzipped it and began working the suit off of him. He was down to Keith’s waist now, the entire top half of the other exposed to the air. So thin. He’d always thought he was the smaller of the two there. Lance ran a hand down his side.

“Lance.” Keith had stopped, Lance’s suit strung halfway between chest and elbows as he held fast to the other’s arm. “Why are you doing this? You don’t have to.”

Lance reached up to rest his own hand on Keith’s. “What did we just say?”

“That we need to change.”

“No, before that.”

Keith paused. “That we’re in this together.”

“That’s right. Your mistakes are mine and mine are yours.” He started yanking his own suit off. “And that goes for burdens too. Sometimes we need someone else to help with the load on our shoulders.”

“Okay,” Keith breathed. “But what do we do after this?”

“I think there’s someone else we have to help too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally this was going to be longer, a /lot/ longer, with more scenes happening, but I got hit with two weeks of heavy work and deadlines that threw me off and in the end I figured I should wrap this chapter where it is now. In the end, I think I like it ending better here than where I'd initially planned, and makes it easier for me to get started on the next chapter.
> 
> I hope this tides you guys over and again, for like the 50th time thank you so much to you all for reading and especially those of you who take the time to comment <33 it means a ton may you guys pet the softest doggo tomorrow ; u ;


	11. But Together You'll Do Things One Person Cannot

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So since I've last seen you guys my old laptop fritzed out and then died a week later (with me frantically emailing myself the WIP for this between crashes). In any case, I've got a new laptop and the new chapter's finally done! Definitely a much longer update for this one, thanks so much for being patient!

The sight of Shiro’s door made Keith’s stomach lurch for the umpteenth time today. He tried to calm himself down, do some of that yoga deep-breathing stuff he sometimes caught Shiro (or interestingly enough, Hunk) doing. There was a 50/50 chance it was actually working, or else it was the memory of walking in on Hunk with his ankles behind his head distracting him enough from the panic. 

Probably the ankle thing. 

He tugged at the collar of his suit and sniffed. Lance had insisted on swapping them as soon as he’d found out about… well… Keith would rather not think about it. Lance’s suit was still warm when he’s put it on, the definition of sitting down on a chair someone else had just been in, except with yoga pants. It wasn’t bad… just weird. In some ways it reminded him of pyjamas straight out of the dryer, but instead of the smell of detergent and fabric softener it was… Lance. And Shiro too for that matter. He couldn’t make up his mind about how they smelled together. There was always something… vaguely vacation about Lance’s smell, fresh and breezy, like drinks on the patio, whereas Shiro was more like… like home. Everyday scents mixed together into something special and it’s own. Together right now the combination made him think of frenzied last minute packing for some reason. Like stress was cutting into the bridge between the two.

If it wasn’t for that he might actually like it.

“Hey, Keith, you okay man?”

“Oh,” he broke out of his space. Lance had a hand on his shoulder, concerned look on his face. “M’okay,” he mumbled, “just started thinking about things.”

“That’s fine, but don’t get yourself too dark. I got you man. We go in, give Shiro a time he’ll never forget, and then  _ boom _ , his heat’ll have passed and everything goes back to normal.”

“Almost…”

Uncertainty flickered over Lance’s face for a second, quickly replaced with his usual goofy smile. “So we know he’s an Omega now, so what? There’s no lasting damage, we’re all fine. It’s just like when you and Pidge were starting out working Voltron’s arms and couldn’t control things for shiz.”

“Excuse  _ you _ ,” Keith scoffed, “weren’t  _ you  _ the one that knocked us flat on our ass that one time?”

Lance huffed at that. “Regardless…” he said, “none of us are holding those things against each other now. We’re learning how to deal with this whole new Shiro business, just like we had to learn Voltron.”

He had a good point, not that Keith was quite ready to give it to him. Lives had been on the line then, much more than here (although… the  _ type  _ of life after a bad mistake here, Keith wasn’t sure he wanted to know). He could pretend everything was fine and in control one last time and then when Hunk finished the supplements it really could go back to that. 

Keith gave Lance a taunting look, hoping the fake smile might breed some actual confidence in himself. “So, you have a plan?” 

Lance returned the look in full. “Just follow my lead, hotshot.” 

Like always, the first thing to hit him as they entered the room was Shiro’s scent. Heavy, cloying. Too much. It was like a steam room except filled with the other paladin’s musk. Keith was breathing from his mouth before he realized it. The sheer strength of Shiro’s smell was enough to overwhelm him a few breaths. It was maybe the strongest it had been yet, as if reduced from liquid to syrup to paste to an almost offensive degree. It was no small wonder how Lance had managed to steel himself enough to get out of here. 

“Oh shit…” Lance whispered, and Keith’s heart stopped. 

“What?”

“It’s even worse than before… he’s…”

But Lance didn’t need to finish his sentence for Keith to realize what he was saying. There on the bed, almost fully obscured by blankets and towels, was Shiro. His body was twisted into a ball, the smallest he’d ever seen Shiro look, meek and lost amongst his fabric cocoon. He couldn’t breathe now for an entirely different reason. 

But he had to. 

That’s when Keith smelled it. 

Shiro’s scent was wrong, like it had spoiled. Keith tugged his suit up over his face and sniffed. Yes, it was definitely different. Whereas the smell mixed in with Lance’s in the fabric was as if one wrong ingredient had been added, this was different. The aroma fogging the room was like someone had made twisted substitutions to it. The hint of mineral oil was cut with something harsher, more industrial like petrol, the buttery undertone holding the tang of spoiled milk. Even the freshest tones of Shiro’s scent, the mint, the honey, the lightest of florals were tainted, smelling closer to rot than fresh with morning rain. 

Despite everything so clearly wrong he felt his member give a small twitch. Even like this, Shiro’s body insisted on being bred, and his was responding to it. It made his heart rip in two. 

He’d done this. 

_ They’d done this. _

“Was it…?” he asked, scared of Lance’s answer.

“No…” Lance shook his head. His eyes were wide, terrified. “He was… well he smelled… okay. Not like this…  _ not like this… _ ”

“Sh-Shiro?” Keith fought down the warble in his voice. The Omega remained motionless on the bed. He tried again, louder. 

“ _ Shiro?” _

The Omega moved painfully slowly, it took everything for Keith to keep from running to his side. He felt Lance’s hands curl around his arm as a croak broke from the other’s throat. First a foot emerged from the pile, then a knee, and finally with a Herculean effort Shiro managed to roll himself over onto his other side to face them. Keith sucked in a breath. 

Without context, Keith would have thought Shiro was seriously ill. There was a clammy sheen to his skin, his face seemingly drained of all energy where it sat in the middle of a mane of comforter. His eyes were puffy and raw, like allergies and a bad-breakup collided. He looked  _ awful _ there, awful and small and lost and desperate. It made Keith wonder what they could even do now. He seemed to far gone, trapped ten miles under in the vortex of his heat. 

“ _ A-Alphas? _ ”

“Oh boy…” Lance whimpered. His fingers dug tighter into Keith’s arm. “He’s… he’s like totally gone Keith.”

He had to fight the rising panic in his voice, had to keep it even even as his legs shook. “N-no Shiro… it’s us. Keith… and Lance. You remember?”

Shiro blinked at them through a daze. “... Keith? … Lance?” Keith had the sinking sensation that they could have shared a bus seat one time and Shiro would have looked at them with the same recognition. The other seemed to wrestle with the names, working his tongue over them both, as if enough repetitions would jog his memory enough. It made him think of grandparents in movies, barely able to recall a thing unless the keyword was just so. Shiro repeated their names again, almost tasting them this time and a groggy cog seemed to turn in his head. He blinked sleepily at them, face twisted in effort and confusion.

“You left… left me…”

Keith had been stabbed before, in the arm, in the shoulder, but never like this. Shiro’s words cut like ice right through to the quick, to his core, shooting shards of ice into his beating heart. This pain was ten times worse. Ten times because it was more than him in pain. 

It was Shiro too. 

“I… I…” he tried desperately, “I didn’t… I had to Shiro… I…”

He wanted to throw up, curl up in a ball and leave this hurt behind. There was no way out, nothing he could say that wasn’t a painful truth or a guilt-ridden lie. He’d messed up spectacularly and now he had to witness his world crashing down around him in the aftermath. Shiro just continued to look at them with the same expression, a fevered child grappling with reality.

“Why are you here?” Shiro asked, and another blow shot through Keith’s chest.  _ Why was he here? Why wasn’t he here? _ Shiro… Shiro needed him, and Lance needed him to help Shiro, they needed to be  _ here _ so that this never would have happened. More than need, he wanted to be here, be the shoulder for Shiro who’d always been his to lean on. 

“B-because…” he croaked, and Shiro seemed to shrink at that. He wasn’t saying the right things, just making it worse. Words were failing him now, eyes glazing over yet again because he was  _ stupid, so fucking stupid and his fault. _

“Because we’re here to help you.”

Keith froze. The voice hadn’t come from him, despite them being the words he desperately needed to say. 

Lance’s hands were wrapped around his bicep like a vice now, almost shaking it with how tightly the other paladin clung onto him. Despite the greenish tint to Lance’s face, the sheen of sweat starting to break out over his forehead, Lance was doing what Lance did best. Talk. And talk he did. 

“You wanted Keith too so I went and got him Shiro. You remember? You weren’t happy with just me.” There was a tremor there, a pubescent crack every few words, but Lance managed to hold strong. 

Shiro seemed to study them, or maybe the air in front of them. His eyes remained unfocused but there was no denying he knew where they stood. 

“But you… you left. You couldn’t… I… I thought…”

Lance winced. “I… I know Shiro. And that’s my mistake, but we’re going to make up for it.”

Shiro was shaking his head. “No Alphas… no one…”

“We’re going to fix it Shiro!” Lance took a step forward, whether braver or desperate Keith couldn’t separate the two. “No more running, we’re going to help you with your heat.”

Shiro withdrew back into the blankets, away from the light, away from  _ them _ . Lance gave Keith a look of pure terror. Shiro wasn’t acting right at all. Every other time he’d been eager to see them, once nearly pouncing on them the moment they walked through the door, but now… now he was all but sending them away. 

Keith fought back against the bile rising in his throat and the dark clouds forming in his mind and gave his head a tiny jerk. Lance returned it in turn, a small nod, and together they stepped towards him, inch by inch. They were just out of arm’s reach when Shiro’s blanket ball moved and he spoke again.

“You don’t want to do it…”

They froze. Lance shot Keith a bewildered look.

“We do!” he said.

“Not really…” came Shiro’s voice, so small, so  _ empty. _

“We do!” he tried again, and gave Keith another look.

Keith’s heart was racing, fight or flight. Shiro didn’t trust them,  _ Shiro hated them _ .  _ No… no he doesn’t, _ Keith tried to reason with himself,  _ Shiro’s just upset… he’s confused… he’s not thinking straight, that’s why he’s like this.  _ But another part, the darker parts whispered back. They could have pushed him away, led him on and dropped him from his view, two Alphas looking for fun and then abandoning their new toy when it grew boring and stale. He’d never heard about this before, Omegas this forlorn during heats. Maybe Lance had been right back then, panicking about the smallest hints that a bond was forming. Maybe this was what happened to Omegas who got too close to Alphas, who were strung along day after day thinking they’d be mated only to be rejected at the last minute. Pidge didn’t know everything. Lance could have been right all along. They’d been seriously messing with Shiro’s life and it was finally all crashing down around them.

He felt hands take both his shoulders, nails cut into his skin as he was shaken. Lance stared down at him like a mirror, face twisted in the same gut-wrenching feeling Keith felt now. They were losing everything, going under,  _ sinking…  _ Lance looked like he was talking but Keith heard no words. The other paladin licked his lips, eyes darting between him and Shiro, and seemed to make a choice. 

Keith felt himself spun around to face Shiro and thrust forward, nearly toppling onto the bed. Lance came to his side and began to claw at the blankets. 

“You’re wrong Shiro,” he barked, trying to pry one of the Omega’s arms from the pile. “You think we left you and didn’t want you. You think we don’t want to be here. That’s BS. It’s the last reason we’d ever have.”

“You left me...” came Shiro’s voice again, and Keith joined in trying to dig him out from his shroud.

“You want to know why that happened Shiro? Why we had to stop and leave you?”

Keith was shaking his head in desperation, fingers scrabbling over the other Alpha’s arm instead of the fabric. Lance couldn’t… not here, not like this. He couldn’t tell Shiro what he’d almost done, it could  _ ruin him _ . 

There was a deep noise, half purr, half growl, and Lance threw Keith’s arm off with a look that froze him to the spot. He let out a sort of snort, a wolf finalizing the winner of a standoff, and turned back to Shiro. Keith’s stomach plummeted to somewhere three decks below.

“We both wanted to claim you Shiro. Almost at each other’s throats over it, any time one of us got even close to doing it the other was ready to kill them. You want to know why I left? Keith was staring at me through the door, ready to attack.” 

Keith’s head whipped around fast enough for his neck to crack. Lance was lying. He was skirting the real truth and replacing it with a bold faced lie, the type of story only seen in bad porn and dark romance novels, whispered about in health classes and beaten out of Alpha children as young as possible. Shiro would catch onto it, he’d realize it was fake… unless…

Unless he truly was as far gone as he seemed, stripped down to basic Omega instincts of nest, mate,  _ breed _ that he only understood that Alphas  _ claimed _ and fought for claims. 

The grip holding onto the towel Keith was tugging slackened. One of Shiro’s thighs emerged from the pile. 

_ It was working _ .

“But that would have left you with no Alphas, you see…” Lance continued, but not without a slight shake in his fingers. “And you see, we couldn’t leave you like that. Neither of us wants the other gone enough to take both of ourselves out of the competition. So we had to talk, away from you, where your scent wouldn’t tempt us into fighting and hurting the other.” 

“...or worse,  _ you _ .” Keith pulled another sheet of Shiro, exposing his stomach this time. The Omega had stopped fighting them, lying motionless, hanging off of every last one of Lance’s words just like himself. 

“You’ll be happy to know we came to an agreement Shiro, a little order to how things will happen from now on. We think you’ll be happy with what comes next.”

The comforter fell away, leaving nothing but a two scraps of fabric covering Shiro’s face and groin. He’d done it, they’d almost done it. He reached for another piece.

“Keith’s going to knot you Shiro.”

It was like his whole body turned to stone. Keith sat stock still, sheet dangling from his fist over Shiro’s waist. 

_ He couldn’t. _ He just… couldn’t.

He opened his mouth to say something, to clarify or yell at Lance. A finger was pressed to his parted lips. Lance shook his head. The other Alpha’s face had changed. His expression was softened, no longer his dominating face, but his everyday one. It made Keith pause, close his mouth. Silently Lance jabbed his head towards Shiro, then reached over to take the sheet from Keith’s hand and pulled. 

Shiro was at full mast, cock glistening with pre and slick. As soon as the air hit his member he let out a long low groan, back arching off the bed even as he spread his legs. The sheets beneath were newly soaked. Lance gave him a timid smile. 

“You like that Shiro, don’t you?” His voice had dropped back into the husky register, that bedroom teasing tone back.

The Omega let out a little whine and nodded beneath the final covering. “Please…”

Lance chuckled. “So polite suddenly… but shouldn’t you be asking Keith?” He looked back at the other paladin, half amused, half anxious.

“Keith…” Shiro whined, and he felt his cock betray him yet again as it strained against his suit, “... Alpha… please… fuck me. Fuck me hard, knot me, fill me with your… your come… I need it...”

“I-I…” he stammered. As much as part of him wanted, an old, desperate part, the rest of him, the sober and present him fought back. Shiro wasn’t fully himself, he hadn’t even smelled like himself at all…

_ Actually… _

Keith scented the air. The harsh artificial smell Shiro had been putting out was still there, but there was something else beginning to filter through as well. Sweet and natural and comforting. Hazy imagery of blankets and and warm drinks attempted to form every time he closed his eyes. It was getting better. Was just the very idea of knotting calming Shiro down?

“Keith?” Shiro’s voice pulled him from his  train of thought, sleepy and honeyed. 

“Y-yeah?” 

“Knot me?” He could hear the pout in Shiro’s tone, the little whine at the end of the question, gentle and innocent, the strand of desperation mixed throughout.

“I-” he tried again, but he couldn’t quite form the words. Agreeing to this now was what this Shiro wanted, but what about the Shiro after this?

The bed creaked and Lance came to stand over him. A hand wove into his hair as the other’s lips came to brush against his ear. 

“Agree Keith.” 

It was barely a whisper, if not for the warm air on his skin he would have believed it was his own thought. “Play along. Trick him and we trick his body. If we play this right, we’ll make him feel like he’s just been mated and his heat can be gone for good.”

Keith could only stare bewildered at Lance as the other Alpha moved to sit behind Shiro’s head, caressing and stroking the Omega’s hair in his long fingers. Shiro let out another low noise and Lance peeled back the sheet from his face just enough for one cloudy eye to lock in on Keith.

“Please Keith…”

This was it, no turning back after this point. He licked his lips and ran a hand up Shiro’s shin. 

“As you wish.”

A deep, rumbling sigh came from Shiro’s chest as he settled deeper into the mattress, fully presenting himself in all his naked glory to Keith, his head settling fully into Lance’s lap. His lips and cheeks were flushed a deep pink, eyes locked intently on every move Keith made as he settled on the bed between the Omega’s knees. The look however, was interrupted with a squawk as Lance wrapped Shiro’s eyes in a piece of bedding. The Omega desperately pawed at Lance’s hands, trying to remove the barrier between him and his line of sight to Keith.

“ _ Shhh _ ,” Lance said in a soothing voice, stroking Shiro’s temples. He shot Keith a little wink.  “ _ Shh,  _ Shiro it’s okay. This is your first time, right?”

More whines escaped from Shiro and the Omega gave a bashful little nod. Lance and Keith locked eyes.  _ His first cock. His first knot. _ Keith’s member strained against his suit and he had to remind it it was staying put. Still, either way, they couldn’t have been more lucky. Lance gave him an apologetic look and adjusted Shiro’s head a few more inches away from his groin, before returning his focus back on Shiro.

“We’re going to make this first time special for you. I want you to feel every micron of Keith’s dick, picture his face as he first sinks into you. You have to imagine how desperate and fuckhungry your body looks as he takes you now. Then you’ll take me and decide which cock you love more, mine or Keith’s, just by feeling alone.”

“Hey!”

“What? You mean you don’t want Shiro  _ picturing _ how he looks on  _ your cock _ ?” Lance gave him a look that was 98% sass and 2% serious. Something in his tone suggested he was hinting at something. 

“No… well…”

“Aw Keith, that’s no fair!” Lance said with a pretend pout. “You get to take Shiro’s virginity and his first climax stare? You could at least save one for me.”

“I’m… I’m not…”

“No…” Shiro cut in. “I want knot… Keith’s knot… Keith,  _ please. _ ” He wiggled further down the bed, fresh slick dripping from his hole as he came to but against Keith’s knee. For a second it was like Keith was back in his bedroom, age 12 and looking at his first magazine centerfold of a fuck-ready Omega. His brain was split 50/50 between ‘ _ the hottest thing ever _ ’ and ‘ _ what do I do now? _ ”. An actual knot was one thing, but faking? He gave Lance a desperate look.

The other Alpha gave him an encouraging nod and mouthed something. Keith continued to stare. Lance tried again, taking one of his hands off of Shiro’s head to wave in front of him. 

_ Miss me? _ Keith mouthed back. Lance groaned and made another attempt, making a show of curling his fingers like he was a magician demonstrating nothing up his sleeve. 

_ Twisting? _

Lance rolled his eyes and mimed again, more aggressively

Keith mimed back casting a rod.  _ Fishing?  _

Lance’s arms flopped to his sides in defeat, a silent “ _ UGH”  _ of disgust matching the completely  _ done _ look on his face. He made a fist and for a split second Keith thought Lance was actually considered knocking him out ( _ as if _ . Lance was far better at long range stuff), complete with Lance beating into his other cupped palm. Still seemingly unsatisfied in Keith’s knowledge of his own brand of sign language he punched right through his other hand, arm sliding to his fingers to nearly his elbow.

Oh.

_ Oh. _

Fisting. Lance wanted him to fist Shiro. 

Well that was definitely going to be as big as his knot, but as for it was going to get in there he wasn’t as sure. Yeah, Shiro was definitely only three bottles short of a whole sex shop worth of lube right now, but getting his whole hand in him wasn’t going to be a five second ordeal, let alone making it feel like a dick the whole time.

Frustrated with their pace, Shiro began to rut against Keith’s leg. His knee grew warm and wet as Shiro rubbed his entrance over the stiff bone, spreading his cheeks with his own hands to gain a slight edge of friction on the fabric. “Keith… in me… knot, knot now...” He could feel Shiro’s rim catch against the edge of his kneecap, just by a hair, barely even providing a stretch to the ring of muscle, but even so the Omega let out a long keening whine. 

“You’re not going to leave him waiting, are you?” Lance was playing with Shiro’s ears,  rolling the skin between finger and thumb, leaving him gasping into Lance’s thigh with the combined sensations at both ends. “He’s been begging for ages now. He wants  _ you _ Keith.” 

As if on queue, Shiro hiked his hips up and dragged them completely over Keith’s knee, making his most desperate noise yet.

“I…” Keith began, and gave Shiro’s face one more look. His complexion shone with sweat, cheeks ruddy, mouth panting. Shiro wanted  _ him _ , and more than that he wanted to please Shiro. A half-assed fingering wouldn’t do at this point. Shiro deserved a full show. He closed his eyes and inhaled the needy scent of Omega in the air,  _ his Omega _ . He could feel the heat coiling in his belly, the instincts bubbling to the surface there. Keith took another breath and tried to redirect them, to send the urges from his two heads elsewhere, from his core and out the the extremities, into the two hands now grasping Shiro’s hips and pulling him off his leg. 

“I’m not going to,” he said, a low purr entering his register, “but it was hard not to watch the show he was putting on. Look at this…” He lifted his leg and showed Lance the damp stain blooming over his joint. “It was like he was trying to fuck himself on me here.”

“ _ Shiro _ ,” rumbled Lance in a voice as thick and honeyed as molasses, “are you so desperate for Keith that any part of him will do? That you’d fuck his leg just to get off?”

Shiro’s cheeks turned scarlet as he let out a little squeak, but his lower half couldn’t lie. Keith watched as another thick pearl of slick slid from his hole. Shiro was desperate, no secrets there, but what was more interesting, and what he’d suspected, was Shiro’s reactions to those accusations. 

“You have to admit Lance,” he tried, eyes locked on the expanse between Shiro’s legs, “it’s not every Omega that’s so Alpha hungry he’ll start trying to fuck himself on the closest part of one, let alone one who hasn’t even shared a heat with anyone yet. You weren’t secretly hoping for this the whole time you knew us Shiro, were you?”

Right on queue, fresh slick slid from Shiro, a little spurt of precome dribbling from his cock. He’d been right. He cocked an eyebrow of approval at the other and Lance leaned down until his face brushed the curls framing the Omega’s face.

“Why Shiro, if I didn’t know any better, you love being called a horny little Omega. Which is fine, by the way, we couldn’t asked for a better one if we tried.” Shiro buried his face deeper into Lance’s leg. “Seeing you so embarassed about your needs, blushing every time we point out how your body-” he flicked a nipple and Shiro arched off the bed between them. “-responds to the thought of being bred, well,” he chuckled, “it’s beautiful Shiro.”

“So beautiful for us,” Keith agreed, lifting Shiro’s knees and spreading his ankles for better access to his hole. He ran a thumb around the ring, feeling the flesh tense and give in response, trying to open itself for him, before tracing up and down the rest of his slicked crack. Already his fingers were starting to be coated in the thick, buttery substance, but he’d need far more where they were heading. “Hold your legs for me? I need to open you up first.”

Shiro complied, metal and human fingers coming to cup his ass and pull the globes apart and put his entrance on full display. He let out another whine and a sharp gasp of “Lance,  _ please! _ ” The other Alpha has resumed his teasing of Shiro’s nipples, rolling them in much the same way he’d been toying with Shiro’s ears. 

Keith’s first finger slid into Shiro. It was much like before, Shiro’d been so horny over the course of his heat that his hole barely even noticed the intrusion until it was fully inside and stroking up against his walls. He felt the lip clench around his knuckle, hungrily sucking on the digit as he continued to stroke and tickle his insides in search of a sensitive spot, but as soon as he made to move in or out it relaxed, ready for more. Keith added another without much fanfare, and this time he could feel a slight sensation of Shiro stretch for him. It was still hardly anything, just a hair more or resistance when he angled or scissored his finger around the rim, but it had Keith studying his wrist. That had to be at least three times thicker than what was in Shiro now, let alone how much larger his actual fist was. The thought of his whole hand inside Shiro, the other’s entrance stretched around his arm, squeezing it like a vice as he came… he could feel fresh heat creep up in his body. 

He wanted to see that. He wanted to feel Shiro wrapped completely around the same hand that had first shaken his, the one that had freed him from garrison confines and the one he held tightly every time they parted ways. The idea of Shiro feeling such an everyday part of him inside himself made Keith’s head spin with fresh fantasies. Even if he didn’t remember it Keith would. He’d remember that warmth enveloping his whole hand each time Shiro extended his own, of Shiro’s body accepting him fully.

Keith began to work on adding a third finger as Lance returned to combing through Shiro’s hair, cresting his bangs back in a great white wave over his forehead and scalp. He’d been so lost in his own thoughts he’d nearly missed out on what Lance was whispering. 

“How big do you think he is Shiro? How good is he going to feel in your hungry little hole?” He raked his nails over one of Shiro’s pecs, earning a little yelp as one caught the bud of a nipple. “C’mon Shiro, I want to know what’s running through that heat-filled head of yours.”

“B-big…” Shiro stammered, and Lance made a clucking noise, earning Shiro another nipple tweak. 

“ _Ah,_ _ah, ah_. I need to know that imagination of yours works properly. It wouldn’t do to just picture some generic grey cock. Tell me everything about it, colour, texture, weight, all of it. I’ll let you know if you’re close to the real thing.”

Even with his blindfold on, Keith could tell Shiro’s eyes flew wide. 

“Y-you’ve seen?”

“I have,” Lance said with a chuckle, now kneading the sensitive skin along Shiro’s neck. “Let’s see if you can get close to the real thing.”

“I-It’s big…” Shiro started again, and it wasn’t hard to tell forming full sentences was a challenge. “...Tall enough that it still sticks out from my fist, the right size in my hand for a... good grip around the shaft. It... gets redder closer to the tip, thickest right… right in the middle… ex-except for the knot… the knot’s… big.”

Keith found himself hanging onto every word even as he started to press a third tip into Shiro, definitely feeling a stretch now. He was moaning between words as Keith continued to work him open. 

“Good, but you can do better.”

“It…  _ nnn _ , it tastes so good! Salty… thick… didn’t get enough last time. Want more…” he hiccuped. “Want more of him in me… want him in my mouth. Hot, stretching my lips… down my throat…” His head rolled to the other side, nose rutting into Lance’s groin. 

Lance startled at that, nearly dropping Shiro’s head onto the bed and making the Omega’s hands fly up to support himself. Keith let out a curse as Shiro’s cheeks bounced off his hand. The sight of Shiro’s ass cupping his hand and guiding his fingers inside had him fixated. 

“Lance…” Shiro whined, but Keith continued to follow the rhythm of his digits pumping in and out, watching Shiro’s ass jiggle with each thrust. Twisting and curling them seemed to milk even more slick out of him, and soon it was dripping into his palm. 

“Sorry Shiro! You spooked me there.”

Keith tested a fourth at Shiro’s rim, just pressing inside before pulling back out. The was some resistance, but far less than he’d have thought. Between his work down here and Lance playing with every part above the belt the Omega was loosening up.

“Let me… let me milk…”

“No, no… ah, that’s not a good idea buddy.” Something shot into Keith’s range of vision, blocking his view of Shiro’s hole. Lance’s hand. It waved madly, gesturing down at where slick was now dribbling down Keith’s wrist. The message was loud and clear:  _ are you done yet? _

“Almost,” Keith hissed, and gave his pinky another experimental stab forward, his palm and fingers flat. Shiro let out a low groan, but his hips responded as desired. Other than the initial stutter as the fingers breached his rim, they sunk down onto Keith’s hand as smooth as silk. 

“But your dick… you won’t feel good.”

“That’s okay Shiro.” Lance leaned over and gave a sharp grin and nod at the sight of Keith four fingers deep. “You’ll make me feel great later, won’t you?”

“But…” One of Shiro’s hands scrambled to grab Keith’s as he pulled out fully. He ignored it, studying his now glistening arm. It couldn’t be slicker if he’d fallen in a vat of olive oil. Shiro was ready.

“All I want right now is the sight of you sinking down on Keith’s cock.” Lance guided Shiro’s head back against his chest, the man’s shoulders resting against his crossed legs. “You’ll look so beautiful stuffed full of him, I bet you’ll cry when he comes and knots you it feels that good.” He hooked a hand around both of Shiro’s legs and spread him, knees high and ass lifting off the bed, ready for Keith. 

This was it. Keith had to remind himself to breathe as he lined up behind Shiro, hiking his ass up onto his own smaller thighs and giving the Omega’s hole one final glance over. It was loose and pink, winking at him in time to Shiro’s heavy breathing. In a second it would be filled with his whole hand. He gave his arm one final rub along Shiro’s crack for good measure, sluicing himself up as much as he could. Shiro let out a noise Keith’d never heard before, something between a sputter and a whine as he attempted to grind back into it.

“You feel that Shiro?” Lance purred. “That’s his dick. Big enough for you?”

Keith wedged his thumb between the rest of his fingers, attempting to squeeze them together so tightly they might actually fuse into a single appendage. Shiro let out another noise as Keith brought them to his rim. It was so quiet he hardly caught it. 

‘... _ Mate me _ ’

His finger tips sank into Shiro and the Omega’s flew to his mouth in vain trying to suppress his cry. There was next to no resistance as the first joint of his middle and ring fingers disappeared inside, Shiro’s hole so greedy he could feel him straining to push himself further down onto them. The index and pinky were next to follow, quickly swallowed inside. It wasn’t until his thumb just began to sink in, nearly all the other fingers already out of sight that he began to meet some resistance.

“How’re you doing Shiro?” Keith could hardly breathe as he gave a few experimental thrusts, just nudging in and out to right before his knuckles. 

“ _ God… Keith!  _ So-so good…” gasped Shiro between thrusts. “More… want more!”

“Y’know Shiro, he’s not even halfway in yet.” Lance ran a teasing hand up and down the tender skin of his thighs. “You think you can take him all? Or is this too much for you already?”

Shiro choked back a curse as Keith twisted inside a little bit and Lance gave his neglected cock a squeeze. His hips continued to move under their own power, bucking back against Keith’s hand but always held back from fully sinking down on it by Lance’s arms. 

“I want it! I want it… please,  _ please Keith! _ ” Damp patches were forming on his blindfold in tears of desperation. Keith leaned over to touch foreheads with the Omega, gently resting his lashes above where Shiro’s lay covered. He could feel Lance’s hair brush against his head as the other Alpha nuzzled him as well. 

“Okay Shiro,” he breathed, “you’ll get it, just let me be gentle,  _ please _ . I don’t want to hurt you…” The words  _ on your first time _ died on his lips. He sat back on his heels and pushed in further. 

There was an instant difference between only fingers and adding his palm. His hand flared out far thicker at the knuckles where he couldn’t compress as well, stretching Shiro to what felt like his near limits. He just managed part of his index knuckle and was working the thickest part in when Shiro let out another curse. His hole tensed and Keith pulled back, alarmed. He tried again, slower this time, but at the same spot Shiro let out whine. 

“Big… so big…”

“Shhh, shhh it’s okay Shiro, you’re doing great. Here, grab your legs for me.” Lance let his hold of Shiro’s knees go as the Omega took over. He reached down blindly and felt around for where Keith’s hand was steadily disappearing into Shiro, clumsily tracing the end of Keith’s fingers in Shiro’s stretched hole. His face was worried into a frown. Shiro let out a noise of confusion at the silence between the two of them. Lance was second guessing things, but if they stopped here… something told Keith things wouldn’t get better unless they kept going. He ran a palm up and down Shiro’s hip.

“You’re doing so well Shiro, you’re almost there. You know when you were talking about me… me and my… Well, whatever, you were right. It’s biggest right in the middle, but then it gets better from there. You’re almost there Shiro, you can do it.” Keith set his jaw and gave another slight push in. “I’ll go slow, I promise. Just relax.”

“I-I’ll help,” stammered Lance, and quickly jumped up to take Shiro’s cock and a nipple in hand. His confidence seemed to grow back in time to Shiro’s volume. In several seconds Shiro was panting into Lance’s arm, gasps of  _ ‘YES’ _ and  _ ‘Oh GOD’ _ escaping as the two of them continued to toy with his body. 

Lance cupped both of Shiro’s pecs and kneaded them, Shiro crying out as his fingers dug into the tender flesh and rubbed them together. “You should see yourself Shiro, you look so good wrapped around Keith.”

“You’ll look even better…” Keith said, twisting a bit deeper, “fully stuffed with my cock.” His index knuckle slipped inside. All that was left was getting his pinky knuckle in as well. 

“Want it… want all of your cock…”

“You’ll get it Shiro, you’re almost there.” Lance was playing with Shiro, massaging his balls and taint as he groped and pinched Shiro’s chest. Keith could feel Shiro’s muscles give flex and give in time with his toying. Pull out just before Lance squeezed him, push back inside as he released. The better he timed it the easier it was to thrust inside. As he found his rhythm he pushed farther, squeezing a hair more of himself each time. Shiro was slowly loosening, hole giving a fraction more each time Keith fucked his hand inside of him. He’d lost all coherence, reduced to a stream of near nonsensical cries of ‘ _ yes’ _ and  _ ‘more _ ’. He could see how all of Shiro moved in time to his breathing, feel how Shiro tried to take him in and hold him inside with each thrust. Shiro’s body was an instrument and he was tuning it, working it up into perfect order before playing it the symphony of it’s life. On the next thrust forward his final knuckle squeezed inside and Keith sunk in down to the wrist. 

It was like his hand had been swallowed inside a vice. Shiro’s walls squeezed down on him, nearly crushing his fingers together as they fought between pushing him out and pulling him deeper. He was just,  _ held _ there, intimately aware of every heartbeat and muscle inside of Shiro. Shiro’s rim lay stretched around his wrist, tightening around it every few seconds as if seeking reassurance he was still there. He gave an experimental little tug back and let out an involuntary groan as all of Shiro tightened, holding his hand captive inside. 

“How does he feel Shiro?”

“G-g- _ good… _ ” Shiro hiccuped. 

“You took him like a champ, look at you, you feel this here?” Lance rubbed the expanse between Shiro’s cock and navel. Keith could feel the heat and pressure against the back of his hand. “That’s Keith, inside you. He’s stuffed you so well you can practically see him through your stomach.”

It was more of a slight bump than anything, but the Alpha in Keith rumbled with pleasure at the idea of his Omega being so completely filled by him. He gave an experimental move and watched the bump shift slightly. 

_ He could get used to watching this _ . 

As Shiro grew more accustomed to the size Keith began to move more, shallow little thrusts, barely pulling back out before pushing back in. Shiro startled at first, hips jolting back away from Keith even as his ass strained to contain Keith inside. Having waited so long to be filled, it was struggling to allow Keith to move out by even a fraction. Lance was running his hands up and down Shiro’s legs and waist, doting and praising him over his perfect cock-taking, teasing him on how possessive his hole was. 

Several minutes of slow deep-fucking continued before Keith was able to pull his hand out far enough to even see a hint of a finger as Shiro finally fully relaxed under him. He’d started a tempo of rocking, arm braced against his side and wrist resting atop his straining erection as he fucked into Shiro, the perfect substitute for his own cock. Keith’d pull back as far as he could manage, the widest part of his palm slipping out before thrusting back forward, burying himself back into the wrist and grinding deliciously against his own dick as he did so. He could fuck Shiro for hours like this, edging himself to orgasm as the Omega became undone beneath him. He played with the shape of his hand, spreading his fingers out on one thrust and then barely curling them the next. The changing shape milked even more noise and slick from Shiro, a damp mark forming on Keith’s thighs where it pooled below the Omega’s hole. Shiro’s cock strained for the sky, giving feeble jets of pre every few seconds. 

He was close. Almost ready to come. Keith could feel the difference in Shiro’s insides now. Whereas Shiro’s hole had started out tight all over, then slowly relaxed to allow him to move, now he could feel the deeper reaches of Shiro begin to constrict, trying to milk and draw the tips of his fingers deeper inside, all while his rim remained pliant, maybe even looser than before. Keith pushed the knuckle of his thumb out, letting his hand catch more and more on Shiro’s rim as he began to speed up. Shiro was screaming now, desperately attempting to fuck himself on Keith’s hand, begging for his knot and cum. Lance worked a finger into Shiro’s mouth, letting the Omega suckle as Keith spread his hand even further inside. 

“He’s going to knot you Shiro, I can see it, he’s going to knot you good. You’ll be stuffed full of it, taking all his come until you’re full of it and then still taking more. You should see how your hole swallows him, it’s like it’s nothing, like you could take a whole other dick right now and still be begging for more.  _ God _ , we’re so lucky,  _ you’re  _ so lucky you have us Shiro. You’re so beautiful like this. Just think, anytime you want, you can have this…”

Shiro let out a wail. Keith’s hand was pulling in and out near entirely now, hand almost curled into a full fist as he continued to fuck into him. 

“ _ Want… want  _ it _!” _ Shiro gasped. “ _ Keith… so close… inside, come inside!” _

And with a final thrust, Keith’s fingertips curling into his palm, Shiro came. The Omega’s entire body tensed up, sucking Keith in and locking him inside as he screamed, his small load spraying over his stomach and their faces. Keith squeezed their hips together, locking them as close as could be, head bowed forward and resting inches from Shiro’s  _ “O” _ face, memorizing every facet of that moment. 

He was dully aware of Shiro’s legs wrapping around his waist, arms flying to find purchase on his back, of a gentle hand cupping his cheek and combing his bangs. It was almost as if he’d come himself, despite the hardness jutting into his arm saying clearly otherwise. It took several seconds to come back to himself, pulling back, eyes still transfixed on the string of saliva stretching between Shiro’s lips in a silent scream. Lance smiled down at him, the hand having held his own face now moving to stroke Shiro’s. The other slid from Shiro’s neck, revealing the bright red mark of a strong pinch. 

They’d done it. They’d false-mated Shiro. He could feel the Omega’s insides tensing rhythmically, milking his fist for come that would never be. Keith let out a shaky laugh as relief poured into his body. It was as if all the stress of the past days was melting away, tension milked out of him by Shiro’s inner knot. He felt himself pulled into Lance’s chest in an awkward hug, face smushed against the other while the rest of himself lay atop Shiro, breathing slowly ramping down. After a long moment, they parted, returning their attentions to the Omega between them, stroking his hair and gently caressing his neck and jaw with tired fingers. 

Minutes passed before Shiro began to stir, hands locked around Keith’s neck sliding away to try and remove the blindfold from his eyes. Keith and Lance’s shot up to join them, slowly peeling the fabric back. 

Shiro blinked at them as if woken from a dream, undecided if the two before him were real or figment. Keith felt Shiro’s insides squeeze around him one last time and the man squeaked in realization. 

This was real.

“K-Keith? Lance?” He looked between them. “W-what just happened? Did we just… just…” 

“Close enough,” Lance said, and guided one of Shiro’s hands down to his groin. Keith felt Shiro’s hand feel around his rim and Keith’s forearm, fingers stumbling as he worked to piece together what was going on. Finally he sat up, elbows propped up on Lance’s knees and looked down at where half of Keith’s arm had disappeared inside of him. 

“That’s… that’s your…”

“Yeah,” Keith said lamely, and pulled back a bit for good measure. He watched as Shiro’s eyes flew wide at the sight of his own hole tensing around his wrist. The Omega sank back into Lance’s lap.

“Oh thank god… I thought… but what about the bite?”

“Me.” Lance gave the skin on the other side of Shiro’s neck a little pinch. “Though it might feel more like the real deal then, better response for your heat.”

“You feel okay? Anything still wrong?”

Shiro shook his head. “I feel fine, better than I have for the past day or two actually.”

Keith leaned back in a sigh of relief, stopping as Shiro let out a little gasp as his still embedded hand tugged at his insides. “Sorry,” he winced, “but that’s good to hear. You were really scary before.”

“Scary? How?”

“Welp, I’m going to go take of some business!” Lance untangled himself from the two of them and began to make his way to the door. He gave them a little wave and lightning fast wink to Keith, and then he was gone. The two of them stared at the door in disbelief, before Shiro finally brought them back to the conversation at hand. 

“What was I doing? What was scary?” His forehead was worried into a frown, fingers fisting in the sheets with nerves. 

“You… you really don’t remember?” Keith whispered.

“Bits and pieces, but it’s all blurry like a night of drinking. There might be things I’m missing.”

Keith gnawed his lip. It was one thing to tell Shiro he was completely gone and desperate. It was something else entirely to tell him about how scared he’d been of him and Lance. 

“You smelled different,” he said finally. “It just.. it was you but it wasn’t. It put us both on edge, made us think something was really wrong besides your heat. Was there?”

Shiro rubbed his neck, face still worried. “I don’t… maybe I just really needed a proper knotting, or well...  _ this. _ ” He rocked back on Keith’s hand. 

“Ah! Sorry, I’ll take it out.”

A minute ago having his arm inside Shiro was the most intimate thing possible, but now it only felt awkward, just like the conversation between them. Something had changed, but as to what exactly, Keith had no clue. Gingerly he extracted himself from Shiro, his other hand rubbing soothing circles on Shiro’s taint as he extracted the thickest part from him. At last his fingers slid free, leaving Shiro’s hole red and just agape in their absence. 

“I-I… or well Lance and I… we’ve been counting days and we think this is all you’ll need and your heat’ll be over without anything else happening.” He was stuttering now. There was a sinking feeling in his stomach, despite the relief he should be feeling after the events of the past 24 hours. “You’re all good to go. Pidge and Hunk should have a suppressant figured out for you by the start of your next cycle. You don’t have to worry about your heats anymore.”

“Th-that’s good.” They sat in silence, half looking between Shiro’s legs and half staring into blank space. What were you supposed to say after a duty fuck after all?

“I guess… it would have been nice to be able to thank you both together, but Lance left,” Shiro said finally. 

“You can do it later,” Keith replied, still staring at some point two inches above Shiro’s navel.  _ Why did this feel so hollow? _ “It’s probably for the best, he was the one that thought of the whole fake knotting thing after all.”

Shiro nodded. “Yeah, probably.”

“I… I’m going to head out and let you rest up. Tell Pidge or Hunk if you’re sore or something.” He gave Shiro’s hole one final look. No signs of tearing, but he would certainly stay stretched for days. It would be tender for sure.

“O-okay.” Shiro’s mouth opened and closed like a fish, seemingly trapped between saying more or staying silent. He chose the latter. Part of Keith wanted to stay, to curl up into bed with Shiro and sleep, but another, the part deeply aware of his own flaws, of both his and Lance’s weaknesses forced his legs to move. 

“I’m glad you’re back,” he mumbled as the door opened. 

Shiro looked back at him with a haggard smile.“I think it’s good to be. Thanks… Keith.”

Something told him only part of them believed that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Currently one chapter away from planned end. I'm also toying with writing a few one shots around this AU too after the main story wraps up. If there's anything you'd like to see that you think I might not touch on, please let me know and I'll see if I can't add it to the list of ideas I have going already C:


	12. Don't Cry Because it's Over

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So after a lot of planning and replanning and re-re-replanning (seriously my outline went through like 6 drafts I'm pretty sure), we've finally got this chapter, and boy it's a doozy, almost 10k!
> 
> I'd like to quickly thank everyone who's been following this fic and been so patient, especially those of you who checked out the other fics I put out over the xmas break. I really wanted to do this right so it ended up sitting on the planning back burner for a while while I banged out a couple things for events that needed a little less planning. <3 Thank you guys!

Keith had never been more grateful to Hunk than the moment he’d wandered into the other paladin’s room, wearing a broken collar and half unzipped healing pod suit and all Hunk did was ask if he needed help getting undressed. Despite his best efforts and some contortion even worms would be jealous of he’d managed to jam the zipper into the fabric right between his shoulder blades where he could barely reach. Whether it was the look on his face or the way he slumped down face first beside Hunk, the Beta got the message loud and clear. 

“So I take it everything’s good then? You must be tired, you guys were gone for ages and it’s way past dinner now. How’d it go?”

“S’went fine,” he sighed into Hunk’s mattress. “We think his heat’s over for good.”

The warmth of Hunk’s large fingers left his back for a second as the other counted off the days. “Let’s see… the first two days on his own, the day after you guys visited him, the two where we had to get you guys to sweat… his big reflare… today… yeah! He should be at the end of his cycle. You guys did it!” His hands returned to Keith’s body to give him a hearty pat. “Good job dude, you guys were total troopers this whole time.”

“Speak for yourself. How long did you spend in the lab this week?” He let out a groan as Hunk changed his grip and rubbed against a knot in his back. “ _ Oh god, _ Hunk can you please rub there again?”

“Dang, you’re pretty tense up here Keith,” but his tone was gentle, a thumb coming to rub circles into the spot and purge the tension out even as he worked to un-jam the zipper. “I mean… I wasn’t in there too much longer than I might be on a regular week, there was just way more of a mission.”

“You did laundry and cooked and everything else too.”

Hunk chuckled. “I like doing that though, the cooking at least. Laundry not as much, but I don’t mind as much as Pidge does and it just worked out better that it was me doing it all instead of you guys. I’m still on suppressants and less sensitive than you guys to Omega smells. Dangit, this is really stuck Keith.”

“Why do you think I came to you?”

“You know, I would have offered to help you even if you hadn’t managed to wedge half the fabric into it first. Same with the collar. I have the keys for those y’know.”

“I was… kind of in a hurry.”

“Yeah, yeah I know… Lance’s was bashed up pretty good too. Like, I get that Shiro smells really good and all, but it literally would have just been an extra five minutes for me or someone else to have helped you guys get out of these instead of going all Rambo on them yourselves.”

Keith breathed a small sigh of relief. Lance hadn’t mentioned swapping suits to anyone else either. If they found out the two of them had been two tugs of a zipper away from the nude in the same room as Shiro… well, there’d probably be a size 4 shoe aiming for somewhere in the vicinity from their shins and a stern lecture tacked on for good measure too. He scrunched his shoulders sheepishly.

“Sorry Hunk. For both of us.”

“Hey don’t worry man, I’m not even mad. You reek of him right now and I’m not going to lie, Shiro knows how to put out something to turn a guy on.”

Keith blinked. “Wait… you mean?” He wiggled his knee where it lay next to Hunk’s hips and felt it bump into something definitely not thigh-like. As soon as it did he yanked it back down onto the sheets, his face red. “S-sorry…”

“... that’s probably be what I should be saying right now,” said Hunk in an equally embarrassed voice. “I had no idea he could smell like that, it’s like he dialed it up to eleven on the good Shiro scent.”

“On the…” Keith balked. It was intense for sure, but the main smell inundating his clothes right now was that sickly concoction that had his stomach knotting with the memory. “Wait, Hunk, what does it smell like to you?”

“Well,” Hunk said with a sharp yank on the zipper, “It’s like you took Shiro and then boiled him down, bottled it up, and then added a dozen other great smelling things. It’s him alright, but it’s like the difference between when someone’s out running errands and being done up for a night on the town. They’re the same but everything’s polished to like… near-photoshop levels.”

“It doesn’t smell… different than usual?” 

“More concentrated yeah, but otherwise not really. I guess he typically gives off a more watered down version but this is more of a peak heat thing.”

How could Hunk not smell it? It was like a cheap-rip off of the real Shiro, leaving the same off putting taste that diet sodas left in his mouth, but to Hunk there was no difference. He couldn’t be crazy, Lance had smelled it too, he knew that much, but the fact Hunk couldn’t pick up on the difference made him uneasy. On the one hand… he had no idea of the state they’d found him in, but on the other…

“... I guess you’re right,” Keith sighed at last. “I thought I was smelling something extra in it, but I guess it’s just my imagination.”

“It might be.  _ Lance _ .  _ Y’know. _ ” Each word was punctuated with another yank at the zipper, the final trailing off in the high pitched  _ ‘zuuup’ _ of the key finally unsticking itself and flying down to waist. 

“Aw, yes!” Hunk laughed. “Got it! Finally!” He gave Keith a hearty pat on the back and sat up. “You want to borrow something to head back to your room?”

Keith looked rather stupidly at where the expanse of freshly exposed back met fabric at his hips.  _ Goddamit he’d forgotten his clothes. _

“ _ Please, _ ” he groaned.

“Let’s see what I’ve got that’ll fit you. Best bet is probably my bathrobe… if I can find it.” And with two bounds across the room Hunk was digging through the enormous pile of clean, folded laundry. Approximately 80% of it was towels and sheets. After a few moments of searching he paused to speak.

“So about that extra smell…” Keith’s everything tightened.  “...Chances are it is just Lance. You’ve been spending more close time with him than you usually do, so it’s probably something in his scent you haven’t picked up on until these past few days. People’s scents can sometimes mix together too to make new ones, so that might be it as well.”

“I did kind of think they smelled like a family vacation…” Keith murmured. 

“Huh… that’s interesting. I never really thought of that before, but Lance does smell kinda beachy. Shiro’s harder to put a finger on. Oh, here we go!” He yanked a long expanse of yellow fabric out of the pile and chucked it to Keith. “If you can it’d be nice if you didn’t get it dirty on your way back to your room, seeing as I just washed it and all.”

“I’ll try,” Keith said, slipping it on and knotting the belt around his waist. It felt better than he’d imagined just being out of that suit, knowing he’d never have to be back in it again. A start back to normalcy. 

_ Normalcy… _ the word made something pang in his gut but he couldn’t figure out what. Bittersweet he guessed. Shiro would be back to normal, but then there’d no doubt be the fallout from this, the awkwardness, the unspoken moments they’d shared this past week. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to remember or forget them. That was all… all out of his hands.

“I think I’m going to skip dinner Hunk. Just… sleep, y’know?”

The yellow paladin eyed him from across the room, large brown eyes scrutinizing him. for a second Keith was sure Hunk was going to ask him for details, to make him confess what had happened when it had just been him and Lance and Shiro. But he didn’t. Hunk seemed to decide otherwise, his face relaxing into a motherly smile as he waved Keith from his room. “Okay, I understand Keith. You’ve had a long day today, you can return the robe tomorrow after you’ve slept a bit.”

As soon as he got back to the quiet of his own room he collapsed into bed, Hunk’s robe and all, and fell into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

Keith woke up to a banging on his door. His entire body was leaden, resisting even the start of wakefulness. A squinted glance at the clock by his bedside showed it was late, practically the Altean equivalent to midnight. Whoever it was could go fuck themselves for all he cared, he wanted to sleep,  _ dammit. _

“Go away!” he yelled at the door.

“Keith! Open up!”

“Go to bed! It’s late!”

“Oh… for fucks sake Keith, let me in! You can sleep after!” He recognized the voice finally. Lance.

“Lance, I’m not letting you in.”

“Y’know, I was being polite and all not checking to see if you’d locked your door, but seeing how you’re treating me right now I might as well check that for myself.”

“Lance… Lance don’t you…” Keith felt a shock of alert shoot through him.  _ Had he locked the door? _ He almost always did, but then again, he’d been so tired, he hadn’t even thought he’d fall asleep that fast. He eyed the panel, just out of reach, just beyond his mess of blankets, and made to reach for it.

Just as the door slid open and Lance walked in, dressed in his own set of pyjamas.

“What do you know, you didn’t lock up for once,” he grinned.

“Don’t you dare turn the lights on,” Keith growled, but Lance was at the switch. He braced himself for artificial daylight to assault his eyeballs, but it didn’t come. Lance came to sit next to him on his bed, the lights only turned up enough so he could make out the other’s features. Lance’s hair was a mess of tousled curls, the hint of sheet wrinkles still pressed into the skin of his neck and collarbone. Clearly, he’d been sleeping up until now too, the same as him. Keith groaned, sitting himself up a bit more in bed, all while still underneath the covers. He wasn’t going to fall asleep anytime soon now. Might as well get whatever it was Lance wanted over and done with. 

“What do you want to talk about?”

Lance looked him over a bit, as if realizing for the first time he’d  _ really _ woken Keith up, and gave him a sheepish look. “Ok, so I’m sorry for coming in here so and all, but I couldn’t get back to sleep wondering how everything went. I had to know, how’d it go with you and Shiro?”

Keith stared at him, or at least, as much as he could without rubbing the last of the sleep crust from his eyes. “W-what do you mean? I jammed my fist up him and his heat’s over. From that perspective it went pretty well.”

“No no no, I mean  _ after. _ How did the talk after go? When I’d left?”

“Oh that…” Keith rubbed his neck as Lance wiggled around on the bed, practically an oversized toddler as he wrung at the sheets, bouncing in place. “... we, uh, didn’t talk much. I told him he’d smelled different and that Pidge and Hunk are almost there for the suppressant, and then he tried to thank me but I told him he should wait until he could thank you too… and then I left.”

“You  _ what? _ ” Lance’s fidgeting hands stopped still. “ _ That’s it?” _

There was a prickle starting on the back of his neck, something Keith couldn’t quite shake. “Yeah,” he said more than a little defensively, “what else was there to talk about?”

“Oh, I don’t know…” Lance scoffed, “maybe just the whole topic of mating and bonds and if you guys should become a couple and all.”

“ _ WHAT? _ ” Keith’s leg jerked at that, hard. So hard that Lance was flung backwards and nearly into the wall at the foot of the bed. “ _ WHAT MADE YOU THINK WE’D TALK ABOUT THAT?” _

“Oh my god, how the hell do you not see it Keith? There’s like… the 5 million years of history you guys have, there’s the way you always look at him, the way he talks about you… the fact that he got all sulky when you didn’t show up with me, then there’s how much you care about him and know about his sore spots I had no clue about until I asked… and the whole fact he was begging for your knot…” Lance slowed his rambling, fingers raised and lost in their counting. He was short on breath, gasping now, blinking into space. His mouth hung slack and barely open as he stared at the number of reasons he’d amassed on his hands. “... I mean, I’d be kidding myself if I thought he’d ever want to end up with someone other than you.”

Keith’s mouth was dry. “Y-you don’t mean that Lance. You don’t know what you’re saying.” Even as he said it he felt his heart quicken. It had always been a pipe dream of his, him and Shiro. The two of them, together, with some house in the country together with a big dog and lazy Sunday mornings. He hadn’t thought it possible, not with Shiro’s trajectory and his general disinterest in romancing anyone at the garrison, but now… now…

“That’s not something I can decide Lance.”

“I know that! That’s why I thought you and Shiro’d talk it over. He’s sober now, he’s bound to be thinking about it, and you’re the natural choice. If you just ask-”

“ _ No _ .” Keith hiked the covers higher up on himself. “I’m not asking him that type of thing. If that’s what you came here to talk about, well, we talked about it. You can go back to bed now.”

Lance frowned at him. Rather than crawl off the bed the other Alpha crawled nearer to him. It wasn’t stalking, like a dominant Alpha, but all the same Keith found himself hiding more and more behind his blanket. He finally stopped a hand’s reach away from Keith, looking mournfully at the other. 

“Why does the idea of it scare you so much?”

Keith huffed into his scarf of blankets. What  _ didn’t _ scare him about it? A week ago he’d still have been a naive idiot about the whole thing, all wrapped up in Hollywood ideals of how bonding worked and true pairs and all that BS. He’d be confident he was the perfect gentleman Alpha. Sure, probably not a sex god, he wasn’t  _ that  _ experienced, but able to soothe his Omega, take care of their needs and respect their boundaries. Now the idea of handling Shiro alone, in heat, with no mark between them as mates… it made his stomach churn with something other than excitement. Nausea.

“Keith? Buddy? Can you answer me?”

“Because I’m a shit Alpha.” The words came out slurred between gritted teeth. 

Lance sat back, eyes wide. For once he was unable to quip back at him. There was no hint of a joke on the horizon in his face, no lightness Keith was used to, only shock.

“You’re… you’re not a bad Alpha Keith.”

“Yeah, right,” he scoffed. “Look at my track record Lance. I couldn’t calm him down when he got in that state. All those ideas of how to fake out his heat and stuff: you, not me. And we’re not even talking about how I tried to claim him the first time he ever paid my dick two seconds notice. Pretty sure that makes for one failure of an Alpha.”

Lance’s whole face was turning downwards like a melting ice sculpture. “Well… well... the zip tie idea was yours!”

“Right.  _ Great _ idea that was. It helped  _ so _ much _.  _ Let’s face it Lance,” he snorted, that uneasy stomach from earlier coming back. “I wasn’t even close to being passable this week. If you’re so insistent on the idea of Shiro needing an Alpha, which, by the way, I’m pretty sure he doesn’t agree, you should be nominating yourself.”

Lance sputtered like someone trying to drink an over shaken soda. “ _ WHAT? You’re joking _ .”

“No I’m not.” Even thinking about admitting it made him sick. He’d always thought he was the cooler headed of the two of them. Of him and Lance he’d always be the one that  would be able to act right in a crisis and make the decisions no one else could. “You were way more in control than I was.”

He didn’t even want to look at him. No matter what kind of face Lance was making: smug, concerned… it didn’t matter. That illusion about himself had been shattered forever now.

“Uhm, Keith. Look at me.” 

Keith huffed into his comforter.

“Keith,  _ look _ .”

He glanced up disdainfully to see Lance jerking two thumbs at himself. “Maybe you weren’t paying attention at all this past week, but when the hell was I in control? Cause I’m pretty sure the idiot that came to you at the start of it had getting laid pretty prominent in the back of his mind.”

“That’s-” he started, but Lance was already running off.

“Oh, and then, let’s see, I also took it way too casually until Hunk was seriously hinting that this  _ ‘goofing around’ _ with Shiro was going to get him bonded to us whether we were careful or not. Who was the one freaking out there?”

“You. But-”

“ _ Keith, _ ” Lance said, one of his fingers shushing him before he could say any more. He leaned close, voice dropping to his calmest register yet. “The only reason I didn’t fully freak out at the start of it all was because you were calm enough to keep me from it. The only reason I didn’t break down at the end was because you needed someone more than I did.” 

His finger rested there, steady, insistent, as Lance stared Keith straight in the eyes. It was several seconds until he took his hand away, suddenly skirting on the edge of eye contact. “Just because you feel like I ended this heat doing better than you doesn’t mean I didn’t make my own share of fuck ups. Maybe we’re both C- Alphas, but if you combine the two of us together I think we probably scraped a B at least.”

Keith couldn’t believe what he was hearing, not until the very sentence forced a snort of laughter from his lips. “That… that was almost profound until you went and ruined it with that analogy.” It… it actually might have been. 

“What can I say,” Lance said with bouncing eyebrows, “I’ve got to get that dumb grin to show up on your face somehow.”

“You-!” He lunged forward, trying to net that stupid smile of Lance’s into the sheets. The pair of them dissolved into wrestling. For a second he had the upper hand, and then Lance was tickling his sides and he was curling up in involuntary laughter, then he got a heel in Lance’s gut for long enough to shove him off and go for the counter attack. Sudden light in those grey clouds in his head. It was like that, back and forth, until they locked into an impasse, each of them with a grip on the other’s wrist, legs tangled to prevent another kick to break free. 

“S-so…” Lance huffed. “About that whole question…”

Keith frowned. He wanted this week behind him, something that would only be spoken about in passing, an ‘oh remember when Shiro had that one heat’ and nothing beyond that making him dwell on everything he should have done. “Unless Shiro brings it up we’re not discussing it.” He made to break free and jab at Lance’s side one more time, only to end up twisted, desperately protecting his side as his grip on Lance weakened. “It’s his whole choice after all. Neither of us push him into something. And you’re not bringing it up with him either.”

“ _ Fine _ ,” Lance grumbled. “I guess you have a point after all. After Hunk and Pidge finish that formula Shiro’s not going to need us anymore anyway.”

Keith paused. As much as he wanted this to be a one time thing, the way Shiro looked at them every time his heat died back down, so relieved and grateful… 

“Yeah, you’re right,” he mumbled

“Yeah…”

Their grips slackened, but there was no more urgency in either of them. They just lay there, looking anywhere but at the other, sheepishly scratching ears or picking at the tangled sheets. 

“Okay. Hear me out.” Lance was holding his hands up at the ceiling like a infomercial salesman halfway through his pitch. “I woke you up, and brought up this heavy stuff. I don’t know about you, but I’m not gonna sleep anytime soon now.”

“And who’s fault is that?”

Lance elbowed him silent. “I’m covering that, let me finish! What I’m getting at is, if we’re both going to be awake for a while, we never had that Diddy Kong race.”

Keith propped a hand under his chin. “I’m listening.”

Lance grinned at him. “Ready to have your ass handed to you?”

Keith grinned back. “Oh you don’t even know how wrong you are about that.”

“Try me.”

Before he knew it they were stumbling off his bed, grabbing shoes and rushing down the hall to the break room. It felt… almost normal. Back to regular activities, not needing to worry about their friend’s lives outside of battle, just go back to lighter things. Just that dumb rivalry he and Lance had, trying to edge the other out in some irrelevant category in life. It was almost there, but not quite. As they turned the second to last corner, practically flat out running, they came face to face with Shiro. 

Shiro. Wobbling on unsteady legs, dazed eyes flying wide at the sight of them.

* * *

Shiro had to admit, after being confined to a single room for more than a week, stretching his legs felt good,  _ really good _ . Other parts of him were somewhat less excited about it and more convinced that another night lying in bed would be the better idea here. But with napping out of the way he’d gotten increasingly stir crazy with the need to get away from his waking thoughts and actually  _ talk  _ to someone, so he’d gotten up against the protest of his tired hips and started the slow task of making his way down the hall. 

He was still trying to figure out what he wanted to say as he moved towards the other paladins dorms, trying to figure out what to say. His first attempt… no that was all clumsy and too wrong, the second was barely better, it was like a 500 word essay stretched to 1,000. It didn’t help that it felt like his hips had been widened since he last really walked. They didn’t… hurt so much as they felt unfamiliar, like a kid waking up in an adult’s body. His whole sense of balance was off, making him feel increasingly like a drunk partygoer in 4 inch heels. Not in loopy way, but more of a  _ how the hell was walking so easy before _ type of way.

He was so fixated on balancing his focus between legs and brain he barely even noticed Lance and Keith until they were on the verge of barrelling into him, eyes bugging out as far as his surely were. Before he could let out more than a noise of surprise they had his arms and were half guiding him, half dragging him into a nearby room, nattering away at each other like a set of parents. 

Dully he realized they were in Lance’s room as the door slid shut behind them. There were some half eaten plates of snacks about and the tell-tale sight of his jacket draped over a chair that gave it away, but any further investigation of it was interrupted by Keith and Lance pressing hands to his neck and forehead, talking at him but not really  _ at  _ him. 

“Are you still in heat? You’re walking like you’re still in heat…”

“You’re warm… but is this too warm? Crap, Lance I don’t know.”

“I can’t smell too much from him but then again he already smells kind of strong already. Do you think his clothes are just bathed in it by now or is it real?”

“Do you have a flashlight maybe we can check his pupils? How do pupils work when in heat?”

“Guys,” he tried. Keith was standing halfway between him and Lance’s dresser, hands held out uselessly in front of him as he tried to decide what to do, leave Shiro or look for a light.

“ _ Guys, _ ” he repeated, louder this time, and was rewarded with Lance smacking his two cheeks between his hands and staring him straight in the eyes.

“ _ WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING OUT HERE SHIRO?! IT'S DANGEROUS DON’T YOU KNOW WHAT COULD HAPPEN TO YOU, SOMEONE COULD JUST JUMP YOU IN THE HALLS??… _ or… or well… Pidge is an Omega so she’s probably not going to do that… Hunk’s the softest, most responsible beta on both sides of the Milky Way… Allura and Coran can’t tell the difference between your scent and one of those Kordovian air fresheners… so… so like the most dangerous place is…”

He dropped off, hands falling to his sides, and shuffled back a few steps. “Of course we bring him right here with us.” Keith was looking at them with the same slow dumbfoundation, still outstretched hands adding to the whole emotion in a  _ ‘how the fuck did we miss this’ _ gesture. 

Shiro fought back a laugh even as he tried to shush the two of them further. “Guys, I’m fine… seriously. I feel pretty normal.”

Lance sucked on a lip, taking him in. “But how do we know that for a fact?”

“Because I’m telling you?”

“Not good enough.”

He screwed up his eyes, cheeks going red. “Well… maybe because… I’m not leaking… slick… anymore.” Lance and Keith both raised eyebrows at that and he was distinctly aware of how their gazes narrowed onto his crotch. His hands clapped over himself protectively. “Just… trust me. I’m fine now.”

They both looked at each other, unspoken words being passed between them. It was weird. He’d never noticed them do it before,  _ had they _ ever done it before? On the one hand he felt happy seeing some of the edges between them had softened, but at the same time… there was something about being left on the outside of it that had him antsy. After a second Keith sucked in a breath and addressed him. 

“Okay Shiro, we believe you. But why are you out in the middle of the night? Shouldn’t you be sleeping?”

_ I could be asking you both the same thing _ . But he didn’t. Instead he fiddled with the hem of his sleeves. All this time before and the whole way over he still hadn’t found the right way to put it. 

“I-I guess I needed to know.”

Lance and Keith leaned closer. “About…” Keith prompted, brow wrinkled.

“About the past week.”

There was a pregnant pause, one far too long to ever be comfortable. “W-what about it?” Lance asked, an edge of nervous laughter threatening to break into his voice. He’d been worried about that. 

“All of it I guess? Did something happen when I wasn’t fully with it? Did I do something weird?”

Keith and Lance were stiff. Another time he would have told them both to relax, not to worry and just let things be. But he couldn’t, not now. Something was going on with them, something that had thrown the three of them all out of balance, maybe even enough to affect Voltron. It left a deep twisting knot in his stomach, one entirely different than the one that had just left it. 

“How much do you remember Shiro?”

They were avoiding his question, there was definitely something there, something he’d no doubt done when out of his right mind. So much of the past week had felt like slipping in and out of a fever dream. Actual experiences had blended into his brief periods of dreaming to the point where sometimes he hadn’t even been sure if they were real until he was coming out of it with Lance and Keith beside him. In that state he didn’t know where thoughts ended and actions began, what stayed in his head and what was really out there. Some things remained fuzzy like a half-forgotten dreams and others stayed locked into his memory, crystal clear. There could have been parts he’d blacked out of entirely and he’d be none the wiser, unless they’d  _ actually tell him _ . 

_ “Please _ ,” he begged, “I don’t know how much I know. All I know is that something’s wrong, and I can’t fix it like this.” He could feel the sting of tears start to prickle in the corners of his eyes. “I need you to tell me, tell me everything that happened, even if what it was made you… ha-hate-”

“Shiro! No no no we don’t hate you!” Lance bounced forward and guided him to sit on the side of the bed. Shiro was only too grateful to allow him to. “We… we just…” he bit his lip, giving Keith another of those long shared-understanding looks. “There were a lot of new realizations this week, for the both of us.”

“Are you going to tell me?”

Keith leaned against the nearby wall, worrying a hole in his cheek as he sucked on it. Lance looked on sadly for a second before turning back to him. He felt like a child like this, back to when he was thirteen and his parents were breaking the news to him that had changed his life for good. 

“How about you tell us what you’re worried about first, okay?”

He… he couldn’t believe this. Shiro looked between them, but in turn they both averted his gaze, only confirming the worst of his fears. Something had happened. Something bad, and they were dancing around the subject like one wrong word would bring him shattering down. 

With the unease in his gut right now, it could as well have. 

“Why... “ he tried, fighting to keep his voice even. “Why are you both suddenly treating me like this? Like I’m going to break, like I can’t look after myself? Is it… look, if it’s something that happened during the heat that’s… that wasn’t fully me, okay?” His hands were fully wringing his shirt hem now. There were things and thoughts he’d had in his heat he’d never have let his sober self do. It was like an alcohol that stripped him down until he could only focus on those raw instincts he’d held down for so long, wants he’d pushed to the back of his mind along with thoughts about death and the future and every last regret he’d had in life. There was no locking them back there now, they’d leaked into the forefront now, demons he now either had to wrestle back or learn to live with them looming over his shoulder for the years to come

Unless… unless they actually helped him face them. But they weren’t talking, leaving him to ramble on and on until something would make them finally do so.

“I… I thought things were going pretty well, at least at the start.” He felt stupid, saying things they already knew like this, but until he caught a sign, some kind of tell-tale response from one one them, he was wandering through this blind. “Actually,” he scratched his neck, “after the first time you guys came busting in I was actually pretty grateful about it. It was the first time that I got a bit of peace from everything.”

“W-we didn’t exactly barge in though…”

“Sure Lance,” Keith snorted, “and you totally weren’t transparent about your huge boner for Shiro, even before you found out he was an Omega.”

His cheeks darkened a bit. Lance had been interested in him, even as Alpha-passing. “M-moving on… I guess I could have been better about the whole scent thing, but… but Hunk said you guys were working yourselves half to death trying to keep up with it. It didn’t even last half as long as being around the two of you for real… I guess I thought it would be easier on you to only have to trouble yourselves for an hour or two a day with me instead.” Shiro glanced sheepishly at them. “Maybe I let myself get out of hand trying to get that to happen, but I doubt Pidge would have let it go ahead unless I pulled a stunt like that. I figured that even if I was out of control you two would be.”

Keith’s whole body tensed. It was like an earthquake ran through him for a single millisecond, the aftershocks leaving him startled and unable to move. Lance seemed to have stopped breathing. 

“T-that’s it then, isn’t it?” he croaked. “I thought something happened then. You guys weren’t the same after, you were all distant and scared and you wouldn’t talk to me.” The knot in his gut was rising, threatening to choke him out and spill his insides all in one go, but he had to push on. “What was it?”

Keith and Lance remained silent, eyes fixated on their feet as if one look at him would cause the world to end. “Shiro…” Keith breathed, but there was nothing that came after it, only the bittersweet note in his voice trailing away into nothing. 

“I… what was it that I did? Whatever it is, I’m sorry! D-did I say something? Something that made you uncomfortable?” He had no idea what had left his mouth then. There was the distinct memory of wanting Alphas -  _ his Alphas _ he’d thought at the time - there with him and pressed against his overheating skin. There’d been the sensation of their body heat on his chest, their musk warm and intoxicating in his head as his lower half was overrun with pleasure, so much so it had just been a haze of wild fantasies new and old. And then there’d been the taste,  _ oh god that taste _ . The him now hid his face at the memory, but even now he couldn’t deny the fact that he actually  _ liked it _ , the salt and bitters of sweat and semen. 

“I.... it was because of that, wasn’t it? What I did to Keith, wasn’t it?” One hand stayed clasped over his mouth, as if covering his lips would soften the words. “I… I did that, then… oh god did I say other things too about that? Was that why you were so upset Lance? Was that why Keith wasn’t there? Was…” he tried, but the very idea caught in his throat. He’d never… that was the last thing he’d ever want. 

“Y-you remember that?”

Lance had leaned forward, one hand raised hesitantly off the bed sheets on the cusp of reaching out. For once Shiro could see his eyes, wet and glassy enough to see himself in them, face blotchy from the effort of holding himself together. 

“Y-yeah…” he stammered. “Maybe not everything, but bits and pieces. I don’t know what was real and what was all in my head though.” This felt like a bad hangover, trying to piece together the night before and figure out the parts that needed patching. He’d never gotten like this before, so unaware of what checks and balances had stayed in place, all he wanted was for them to  _ tell him.  _ Just  _ tell him _ what had gone wrong and how to fix it. 

“D-do you remember anything else? From the other times we visited after that?”

Shiro licked his lips, looking between the two of them. There… there was a lot there, and not all of it was stuff he really wanted public. “If I tell you, you have to promise to tell me what’s wrong.”

“I’m… I’m not sure buddy,” Lance said, face screwed up as he looked at Keith, and it was the first time Shiro really noticed him. Keith’s fingers were dug so tightly into his elbows that they shook, the curve of his jaw popping from his neck not from bone structure alone, but the force it was clenched with. With a start Shiro realized his lips had been pressed so thin that all pink from them had disappeared, only to be revealed as Keith let out a long, shaky sigh. 

“If you promise, we promise,” he mumbled. Trying to ignore the look Lance was giving Keith now, Shiro forced himself to push on.

“O-okay. There was the time just you came in Lance. And you lied… lied about Keith. You wouldn’t tell me what was wrong but it was so obvious something was. It… it was…” He bit his lip. There had been parts of that time he’d really liked. Lance’s warm reassuring touch in his hair,  the way his words tried to soothe the unrest in his mind. It had almost worked to settle him down and quell his fears,  _ almost _ , until… 

“As soon as I went back into heat you changed. You smelled wrong.” Both Lance and Keith seemed to jump to attention at that, and he pushed on. “You… you smelled upset. I don’t know how to describe it but that was what it was like, something was just…  _ off _ . I had to try to calm you down, comfort you, but… but it didn’t work…” Some of the same emptiness from back there ghosted through him. “Y-you left. Ran out. You didn’t even tell me why.

“I… I…” he fought to keep going, but the words kept catching in his throat. He had a hunch, something bubbling deep in his stomach as to what he’d done. It made him nauseous with the very idea. The thought that despite his feelings, despite everything he tried to do, he’d just become a weak-willed Omega, begging for the nearest cock. Anything would do, no loyalty to anyone. A sickening 180 that left Keith and Lance unable to look at him now. Something about that had to have some truth. Why else would Keith and Lance be looking at him with those sad eyes?

Something warm came to rest on his knee, featherlight grip but the reassuring weight there all the same. The bed shifted and another came to sit on his other leg, even warmer. They were both there. Even if their opinions of him were both irreversibly changed, they’d at least be by his side for this.

“I didn’t know what to do!” The words tumbled from him with such force it surprised even himself, the cork springing free of a bottle and the pent up foam below it rushing after. “I… I knew I’d messed up, that something was wrong, but I didn’t know how to make it better. I just kept thinking about how I must have let you down, whatever it was I’d done and if it made you never want to see me again. I-” his voice cracked, “I figured you were only there because you had to. Because Hunk and Pidge kept sending you back at that point, whether you wanted to or not. 

“L-Look,” he gasped, fighting with every fragment of himself not to fully crumble between them. The leader of Voltron couldn’t break, not in front of his team. “I know I must have changed for you guys this week, there’s stuff I’ve done that I never saw myself doing, ever. I’ll try to fix anything I did, I promise. But I can’t move on from this without knowing if we’ll all be okay. I… I care about you both so… so much.”

“Shiro…” Keith’s grip on his leg tightened, the shaking of his hand so strong now he was worried it might cause him to collapse. “It… it wasn’t you that did something. It was me.”

“Keith… are you sure?” Lance whispered.

“Lance,  _ look at him, I have to tell him _ !” The fear in his voice made Shiro want to stop him, to pull him to his breast and calm him until this shaking stopped. Keith could be one for nerves, but he never showed them this openly, this raw.

“Shiro… I… I’m sorry, I understand if you hate me after this, because I hate myself too.”

“Keith…” Shiro breathed, but he was frozen in place, unable to reach out.

“I… when you started… down there… I lost control.  _ Just for a second! _ But… but it was still long enough… I… I wanted to claim you Shiro.”

It was like someone had drenched him in a bucket of ice water. 

“I… nothing happened! Lance caught on and put a stop to anything before I could act! But… still… I knew I could think like that. I’d wanted to do that, even knowing how much you probably hate the idea of being claimed. I didn’t want to feel it again…”

Shiro’s head was spinning. He hadn’t said or done something to make Keith or Lance so disgusted with him they didn’t want to be near them. He’d brought them to the point that Keith was disgusted with himself. The image of Keith keeling over a bowl after the fact, on the verge of vomiting from that self-realization swam before his eyes. Even… even if he hadn’t done it he knew Keith had no doubt felt that way, unable to face him now after coming to face those few dark seconds.

“T-that’s why I had to leave you Shiro,” Lance whispered. “I thought maybe I could be strong enough on my own, that it wouldn’t happen, but I wasn’t. I had to get out before I did something I’d regret. I couldn’t... not after everything you’d told me, not after what had happened with Keith.”

There was a weight settling inside Shiro now, a black hole threatening to consume him. He’d been blind this whole time to what had been going on with them, so focused on himself and how he was acting he’d completely missed how he might be affecting them in ways he’d never thought to consider. Of course he’d been mindful of how his own actions might look when he was able, but he’d completely ignored the impact of his body running with it’s own needs in mind. How had he ever thought this was okay, two inexperienced Alphas and himself, making their way through a heat none of them had any idea how to navigate? 

“Y-you should have just told me. Said it wasn’t safe and I’d just have to deal with the rest on my own. Why didn’t you-”

“We didn’t know until after you’d only respond to us,” Lance said quietly.

“And at that point we still thought we had things under control. Or at least, I did.” Keith bit his lip and Shiro knew he was holding back tears. “ _ Damn _ , I was stupid. All I could think about was the fact that you needed us and only we would do.”

That… that was true. Since the first time they’d touched him in heat he’d had a feeling, the idea that being pressed between them would make everything about this whole uncertain experience okay. That he wasn’t alone in it… that he’d be safe. So long as he could feel the warmth of one of them near him he’d make it through okay. There was no explaining what made him think that way, but something kept telling him, something deep down insisting that Keith and Lance were the answer he needed.Except it never quite happened. Each brief stint with them seemed to have only wound him up further, made him long more and more for that escaping feeling of peace he was looking for. 

Shiro fell backwards onto the bed, fingers wringing through his face and hair. 

“ _ Fuck…  _ just,  _ fuck. _ ” He wanted to cry, or maybe laugh, he wasn’t sure. “No matter how careful or sure we were, everything still went to shit, didn’t it? I thought I could keep myself from becoming a mewling pile of slick and you both thought you could control yourselves.” A hiccuping laugh broke from Shiro. “We’re all idiots. I should have realized this, being an Omega and all, why did I ever try to deny the fact?”

He knew why, because the future he and his parents saw for himself was impossible for an Omega to achieve. Because his parents - and Alpha and a Beta themselves - had expected him to be another Beta. Because he never would have made it here into space if he hadn’t fought tooth and nail to hide every indication of what he really was. 

“Because you wanted to be seen as Shiro,  _ just Shiro _ .”

The warmth of another body came to lie at his side. He could feel the soft breathing from their nose breeze over his shoulder. Another came to settle on his other side, just out of reach of his sense of touch, but the warm bulk there all the same. 

“Why do you think I was so upset Shiro? I knew you wanted to be seen for who you are, not what, and I almost looked past you for it.” A hand gripped at his pinky, holding tightly, like a scared child. They lay there, like that, confused, hurting, when Keith sucked in a breath.

“That’s… that’s why you had to fight so hard to get your parents to let you apply to the garrison, wasn’t it? They didn’t think it was safe for you as an Omega.”

Shiro’s mouth fell open in shock. Keith… Keith remembered, all those years ago back at the garrison when he’d tried to coax that unfamiliar freshman into talking more about himself.

He nodded slowly, eyes brimming with the threat of tears. “They always thought I was a Beta until I finally presented. I can still remember my mother… my mother…” he blinked and the first few drops overflowed down his cheeks, “the way she looked at me when I woke up in the hospital after it started at school. It was like she was looking at a brand new person in my place. She wanted me to stop all my clubs, to rethink my career plans, all because she thought the world would be out of my favour now that I was an Omega.”

A finger pressed itself against his eye and he gratefully let it wick away some of the tears. 

“I just… I figured the only way to keep on living as me was to hide it. I transferred schools to where no one would know I’d ever had a heat, took full-on suppressants. It just felt easier for everyone for me to conceal it, so that my parents wouldn’t have to worry and I wouldn’t have anyone doubting me just because of how I was born.”

“And we don’t.”

Shiro hiccuped. “Maybe before, yeah, but now… Earlier you didn’t even believe I was myself again.”

There was an awkward shuffling on both sides of him. 

“I guess we were a little too worried you might go back to how you’d been before.” Lance chewed his lip. “You know how you said I didn’t smell right that one time Shiro? You didn’t either. After I left and we came back together it was like there was rot or something in your scent. I thought you might have been seriously sick it was so bad.”

Keith let out a low breath on the other side of him. “I smelled it too, but Hunk… he couldn’t even tell the difference. He told me when I saw him after the fact. Said Shiro smelled as good as ever, maybe even better.”

“ _ No. _ You’re serious?” Lance started, but Shiro was back processing this new information. He’d smelled wrong. Wrong only to Lance and Keith, and only after when he’d thought they both didn’t want to be there,  that they might even… no, they’d told him themselves, they didn’t hate him. But he’d thought that. He thought he’d done something seriously wrong, and they’d picked up on that. He could remember the fitful drifting to and from consciousness, dwelling only on the fact that something between them was gone and broken beyond repair.

“I-I was really worried,” he mumbled, and Keith and Lance stopped chattering between themselves to listen. “I thought you both never wanted to see me again. I know how stupid it sounds now, but then…”

“That… then it makes sense…” Keith gasped. “Y-you were barely making any sense, saying we’d left you, that we didn’t want you.”

Shiro’s cheeks went pink. “I-I said that?”

“Yeah, pretty much man.” Lance propped himself up on an elbow. “That and some other stuff, but that was the main gist of it. You didn’t believe we were actually there to help you until we pretty much promised you one of us was going to bang you to prove it.” Keith winced. “Okay, not the most delicate wording of it, but that’s what happened.”

Shiro chewed this over, some of the knots in his intestine loosening, but there was still the rock that sat in his belly, the one question he was scared to ask. 

“So… I bet after this the way you both think of me’s changed for good, hasn’t it?”

Lance rolled onto his stomach, seemingly thinking it over, but Keith was looking at him in flat disbelief.

“ _ You’re _ asking that question? We just told you we came close to claiming you and  _ you’re _ the one worried  _ our _ opinions have changed?”

“I… yes?” Shiro offered, and Keith puffed up his cheeks. 

“So your opinion of us hasn’t changed at all?”

“I… I guess not. It has, a bit.” That type of thing, it wasn’t something to be taken lightly at all. He knew that better than anyone, but at the same time, knowing that that was the root of all their caution, all their worry, he couldn’t twist that feeling into something that resembled hate or resentment. 

“I’d really have liked it if you’d both just told me,” Shiro sighed. “It would have made me worry a whole lot less if we’d just talked about it instead of you leaving me out of the dark. At the same time, I kind of get it. You’re not supposed to trust an Omega in heat when they say things like they’re okay with claiming. There’s too many hormones and mating instincts going on to know for sure. I guess…” he said, and felt the lump in his gut tremble, “I guess I’m grateful? The fact that you both were so concerned about what I’d want when I came out of it you didn’t want to risk something you thought I’d regret.”

Keith studied him, head cocked, eyes tracing over his face. He was looking for signs of a lie, or a bended truth, but there weren’t any. Even after hearing the truth he trusted them. He trusted his body with both of them if this ever happened again, knowing they’d never do anything they knew he’d never consent to now.

After some time Keith finally looked away, seemingly embarrassed as he scratched at his neck. Shiro could see a little flush of happiness, or maybe relief enter his cheeks. 

“So what about you?” he asked again.

Lance hummed, crawling closer until his arm was bumping into Shiro’s own. “I guess I’d have to say same? For both of you. Some things about how I look at you guys have changed, but more like I understand you both a bit better now? Like with you, you’ve always been this amazing guy who’s giving it his 110%, that valedictorian type dude who you can’t even bring yourself to hate cause wow? He’s actually nice and down to earth. It’s still you but I see where it comes from now. Same with how you lead. It’s not super cocky or anything, more protective or momly or something. It just… I don’t know, makes sense for you?”

Shiro felt his cheeks flush. “I… thanks,” he mumbled with a small smile.

“I guess I can add in the fact that now I know you’re not both perfect cyborgs. Keith, I never thought you actually had a weak side until now but it just brings you one more step to being human.”

“Shut up,” Keith said, elbowing Lance, but he was smiling.  “At least now I know you can actually have a serious side once in a while now. Not that I’m going to let you let that go to your head,” he warned as Lance beamed back at him. His face fell in seconds into a pout. Lance sufficiently deflated for Keith’s tastes, he turned back to Shiro. 

“You’re still you, no matter what you are. I’ll care about you no matter what.”

“And yeah,” Lance said, “maybe we’ve been a bit overprotective of you around your whole heat, but it’s because we know you’re not fully comfortable with everything about being an Omega. We don’t want to push you into anything you don’t want to do, same as you would do for either of us.”

“Actually,” Shiro trailed off, his ears going red already, “I… after this week, there are parts of it that seem really nice…” Lance and Keith both leaned closer and he covered his face, trying to keep the courage to keep talking. “... Stuff I really didn’t see myself wanting to do until it happened.”

“Stuff like…” He could practically hear Lance’s eyebrows bouncing suggestively in his voice. Keith’s chin came and poked at his chest as he settled against him and Shiro found himself lowering a hand down from his face to pull Keith closer in to cuddle. 

“L-like… trying naughty things… being touched down there…” He must have been beet red by now, but Lance and Keith didn’t seem to mind. There was a low hum against his shoulder as Keith indicated his approval and Lance let out a little chuckle. 

“I guess you’re shy about that type of thing all of the time then.”

“Y-yeah,” Shiro mumbled. It was true though. Minus the worries about what Keith and Lance might think, letting their mouths and fingers have free reign over his lower half felt amazing. He let out another shudder at the memory of Lance’s tongue deep inside him. Some day in the future he’d find a way to bring that up, but not now. He carded his hands through Keith’s hair, an air of peace settling over him. Lance wriggled closer, burrowing his chin into Shiro’s shoulder as he wrapped a leg around one of Shiro’s. Soon enough fingers were running through his hair as well and Shiro was twisting his other arm under Lance to wrap around his waist. 

It felt nice. Safe. 

_ Right. _

Somewhere along the line Keith hand begun to trace lazy circles into Shiro’s stomach.

“I missed this,” he mumbled offhand, and both of them stilled.

“This? Cuddling?”

“Yeah…” he said sleepily. Feeling the warmth of the two of them against him was like sinking into warm bath, complete with warm, lazy smells. “It always felt good when you both were just close, even if we weren’t doing anything.”

“I don’t know if we did much of it actually,” Keith sniffed.

“We kept leaving pretty quickly after the fact,” Lance sighed. “Is that a thing for Omegas? Liking to just be close with people?”

Shiro shrugged from his position between them. “There’s supposed to be something with serotonin after knotting with someone you’re close to. Maybe it’s related to that. Whatever it it,” he said, wiggling deeper into the mattress, “this is nice.”

The two Alphas both let out a contemplative hum together, almost in harmony with one another. Then, almost as a unit, they began bumping and wiggling Shiro sideways. 

“W-what are you doing?” He asked, fighting back a laugh as Keith’s hand dipped down into his ticklish armpit.

“Getting us more comfortable,” Keith said, directing Shiro head up until it rested on Lance’s pillow and the three of them were fully lying down in the small bunk. He was thoroughly wedged between the two of them now, Lance pressed up against his back as the smallest of them, Keith, settled in against his front, drawing up the sheets. 

“Unless you don’t feel like it,” Lance murmerred, nosing into the back of his neck as his hands came to wrap around Shiro’s waist loosely. “From the sounds of you we owe you a week’s worth of it, so might as well start playing catch up now.”

Keith nodded from where he was nestled between Shiro’s pecs. In this new position he was completely wrapped in them and their scents. Together they smelled like a lake on a summer’s day, warm and light with traces of pine and fruit. It was cozy, like it was made just for him. He let out a hum of appreciation and settled in, chin resting on Keith’s curls. 

He’d bring it up soon with them, the definition of what they were. They were all still young, there was no need talk about marriage or mark sealed bonds.  _ Still _ , Shiro thought, as Lance and Keith’s breathing slowed to a gentle rise and fall against in, he wasn’t against this, settling in between them in bed the same as settling between friends and mates. The idea of of maintaining this, this non-blood bond between the three of them left him feeling warm and light with the promise of feeling like this every day, waking up and going to sleep to this same peaceful place he found himself in now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhh okay so slight change of plans happened between when I posted the last chapter and this one. I realized in order to cover what I wanted to cover and do it right this chapter ended up ballooning up super large. I didn't want things to be solved in a two minute talk between them and the conversation flow ended up going and going.
> 
> So, that being said there'll be one more chapter after this one that I'm already working on, a sort of epilogue if you will, with the boys cementing their feelings at long, long (effing) last! In the end I think it'll turn out even better than the initial ending I've had in mind for 4-5 chapters now, which looking back just seemed way too rushed. One more time thank you for riding through this story with me <3 There's so many of you I recognize when you pop up in my inbox and you have no idea how happy it makes me seeing your usernames <3


	13. Smile Because it Happened

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To quote myself writing the final installment:
> 
> Final chapter.  
> 6k plot.  
> 8k smut.
> 
> Rather then post them as one huge mega chapter I'm uploading the plot wrap-up tonight and the porn tomorrow once I give it the final look over.

Something about the three of them had changed. 

It was difficult to put a finger on exactly. Definitely not sex, Hunk said, but Pidge was still convinced something had happened the night before they’d found the three of them tangled up in Lance’s bed. Her first instinct had of course been to grab the nearest magazine and storm over to bop some sense into Lance and Keith for smuggling Shiro up and away someplace private to do what they wanted. No Omega was being taken advantage of of on her watch, that much was sure, even if he was cooling off the last trace pieces of his heat. 

It had been Hunk who’d stopped her, sliding one of his big fingers over her lips to shush her and peeling back the covers to show the three of them fully clothed, slotted together like puzzle pieces. Lance’s face had been pressed up between Shiro’s shoulder blades, hugging his waist and snaking his legs around one of Shiro’s knees to join Keith’s. They could barely see any other part of the other Alpha aside from where the top of his head stood out under Shiro’s chin, forehead resting against his heart. 

“Shh, let them sleep,” Hunk had whispered, quickly replacing the blankets as Lance began to stir, giving them one groggy look through barely opened eyes before burying his face back into Shiro’s bulk.

She still couldn’t get the look of Shiro’s sleeping face out of her head. It was so relaxed… those worry lines that crept into his face easily gone, breathing easily with the hint of a smile on his lips. That couldn’t just come from the three of them spending time together, could it? But come to think of it, they were acting closer. It wasn’t anything obvious, Allura hadn’t even noticed it until Pidge hade pointed it out. 

They were little things, like Shiro ending up sitting between Lance and Keith at meals. Usually it was just a random order they all found themselves in but for three meals in a row Lance and Keith had made their ways onto either side of him whether they noticed it or not. Probably the only reason she’d picked up on it in the first place was when she’d gotten up to get a drink from her seat next to Shiro she’d come back to Lance in it, talking to Hunk across the table despite the empty seat just next to him. 

Lance and Shiro were also joining Keith more and more in sparring practice. It had never been the three of them yet from what she could tell, but more often than not if Keith made it known he was headed to the simulator one of them would end up offering to join him, even disappearing after the fact to no doubt join him when they were freed up.

It had been Allura though, who’d pointed out Shiro’s behaviour change when it came to all of them. It had completely flown over Pidge’s head, having known him so long she’d often find herself leaning up against him on the couch while she worked if the two of them found themselves their together. He’d always just felt safe, like a big brother, she hadn’t thought anything of it, though maybe somewhere she’d subconsciously recognized him as another Omega. So when Shiro had come to sit next to her as she beat the tar out of Coran at the original Smash Brothers she’d thought nothing of it when he’d slowly started to lean against her until their elbows bumped, his head slumped over on top of hers as he lazily watched Fox being booted off the stage for the 6th time in five minutes. Allura, having watched this all on the other side of her had let out a little laugh at that, then requested next match with Coran. When Pidge asked her about it later the Altean had smiled mischievously at her.

“That’s the first time Shiro’s ever initiated, wasn’t it?” she’d grinned, corners of her mouth rising as the fact of the matter dawned on Pidge. It  _ was _ . It had always been her before. It wasn’t unusual for Omegas to like to be close with friends and family. It was comforting, a way to ease the nerves and bond with their group. Shiro’d never shied away from it with any of them, but at the same time… she’d never once seen him start it himself. 

The more she watched the more she saw it, touches beyond a hand on a shoulder between Shiro and the others. Him and Hunk flipping pancakes together with the pan, Hunk behind Shiro supporting his arms through the motions. Shiro wandering over to sit in Keith’s paladin’s chair as they discussed new missions and slowly sliding further and further off the armrest until he was all but sitting in Keith’s lap. One time she’d even found him flat out sprawled in Lance’s lap, letting the other paladin work his fingers through his scalp as they chatted. 

Even Lance and Keith had changed a bit too. They were bickering less, or at least, their bickering was mixed in with lighter things. She’d caught Keith giving Lance piloting advice for Blue on how to better dodge and attack from behind. One evening she’d found Keith’s hair damp and smelling… different. Fruitier. It took some prompting, even a little teasing to get the story out, but he finally grumbled to her that Lance had let him try some of his conditioner. The same stuff he’d told her off for trying to use to unshrink one of the sweaters she’d destroyed in the wash (and also cementing her forever as never needing to be on laundry duty again, thank you very much). There’d even been a few times where the two of them had been leaning on Shiro as the group unwound, only to continue to flop against each other when Shiro got up to help Coran. 

Of course it was the most painfully obvious when the three of them fell asleep on top of each other. It was happening more and more, and usually on the couches too. They’d start out the three of them sitting together side by side, and then one of them, Shiro or Lance usually, would lean up against one of the others. It was like watching crayons melt in slow motion for they rest of it, the three of them getting progressively floppier as chins came to rest on shoulders, hands wound around arms. As soon as one of them was asleep the other two would exchange looks and settled further into place, as if waking the sleeping one was out of the question. 

She’d pointed it out once, as Keith was within an inch of sliding fully off Shiro’s chest and into his and Lance’s laps, and all three of them had jumped, embarrassed, and made their ways off to their own rooms. Actually, any time she drew attention to it they’d get all embarrassed and quiet, and it was growing stale fast. 

Nearly a week after Shiro’s heat was over she’d brought it up, but Hunk just smiled. “We’ve got to give them time,” he said, tinkering away with the most advanced potato gun Pidge had ever seen.

“Hunk, they’re literally in unstable orbits around each other, spiralling closer and closer every freaking day. They might as well just tell us they want to start dating and stop acting all embarrassed about it already.”

“Do you think they’ve figured that out themselves yet?

“Of course! Why else would they be acting the way they are?”

Hunk set down his screwdriver down and sighed. “I’m pretty sure they’re still toeing the line. None of them is going to make a move if they don’t have clear enough signals from the others”

Pidge snorted. “So you’re saying it’s going to be another five years of this. I’m pretty sure they’re all for it. Lance and Keith have barely fought all week, and I  _ don’t count _ video games!” she added on as Hunk opened his mouth to retort. The other paladin seemed to think on that, settling his chin on his hand. 

“That might be true, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t still human. They can be pretty dense sometimes.”

“You’re telling me.”

“Look,” Hunk sighed, “it’ll just take a bit more time. If it keeps bugging you so much maybe you could play matchmaker for them.” He hefted his finished gun off the workbench with a smirk. “ _ Now _ , if you’d like to see if I can shoot some gosopfruits across Yellow’s hangar…”

* * *

Shiro looked down at the tiny pellet in his palm. It was rough around the edges, almost like a second-hand chocolate chip, except that it was a chalky grey. 

“This is going in my arm?”

Hunk looked up from where he was filing away more of the pills into little boxes, which, now that Shiro was paying attention, looked a hell of a lot more like those little containers his grandmother had used to keep her prescriptions in. His heart sank. 

“They’re pills, aren’t they?”

“Yeah, sorry buddy.”

“Weekly?”

Hunk pulled a face. “Daily for now. We’d have to iron out the kinks for a slow release after being swallowed, and Pidge figured it was better to be safe than sorry.” Shiro returned the look and then some, swallowing the tiny lump dry. It itched the back of his throat as it went down. He hadn’t had to swallow pills since the first month after his heats started. “But don’t worry, they’re not a permanent fix. It’s just until we can iron out the rest of the kinks with the formula.”

“ _ Kinks? _ ” He instantly regretted swallowing it. His throat was seizing up even as he spoke, either reaction or nerves, letting out several dry coughs not unlike the Holt’s dog after getting into the hot sauce.

“No! No not like that!” One of Hunk’s large hands was clapping him on the back, helping him breathe again. “More like tweaks really! They work just fine as birth control and you won’t get anywhere near as deep into your heats as you did before. There’s just some… side effects we’re still working on.”

“What side effects?”

“You’re still going to be dripping like a dog in heat,” Pidge grumbled from behind her laptop, face twisted into a grimace. “Turns out there’s something else in Omega suppressants that isn’t in Beta ones, seeing as Betas really don’t have the whole self lubing thing going on the same level. It took forever to figure that out, I wasted so much CPU time fiddling with progesterone levels trying to fix it.”

Shiro eyed the bottle of pills Hunk had handed him warily. “Does that mean it’s actually working as suppressants properly then?”

The Beta waggled a hand. “Kinda yes, kinda no?” Shiro’s confidence was rapidly diminishing in the little nub now dissolving in his stomach. 

“Ugh, Hunk, they’re better than that. Look at him, he’s about to freak out.”

“No I’m not,” Shiro said a little too fast. Pidge adjusted her glasses and smirked at him. 

“Hunk’s right that the birth control side of them is basically flawless. I’ve simulated practically every scenario possible and they’re like... 99.99999% effective. Unless you gulp like a gallon of heat enhancers nothing’s getting through. Same with the mental symptoms of heats. I’m pretty sure we got the hormone levels low enough to suppress getting heat drunk, which means you’re not going to go loopy on us again and start  drooling over shirts again.”

“I didn’t…” 

“Shiro,  _ please _ . I was there.” Pidge waved a hand and continued. “That being said, they’re not full suppressants. You’re still going to get slick really easily come heat times. Think like a 14 year old Alpha, getting it up if an Omega even so much as looks in their general direction. That’s going to be you.”

“I’m going back to high school.  _ Great.” _

“It’s not a bad thing though,” Hunk said, with a reassuring pat on his shoulder. “Like a strong Beta heat pretty much. You’ll still be yourself, just… a bit easier to turn on, that’s all.”

“And  _ believe me _ , that’s not where we’re leaving this Omega suppressant at.” Pidge whirled her monitor around to reveal no less than 5 miniature simulations of himself. If he squinted he could see long list of chemical names lining the sides of each window. “It’ll be a cold day in hell before I’ll let myself go slick over one of you. Honestly Shiro, why do you think it took us this long to get this to you? We’ve been trying to get rid of those remaining symptoms for the better part of a week and a half.”

“I guess… it is definitely better than nothing.” They’d no doubt spent hours and hours on this just for him, even if it was still imperfect. Still… it still felt half-finished, just like everything now. It’d be nice if something from all of this came out polished, wrapped up with a pretty little knot. He forced a smile at the two of them. Regardless of how well it had come out, he was grateful to them all the same. “Thanks guys.”

“Anytime,” Hunk smiled, and Pidge nodded. What he’d done in life to deserve them he had no idea. “It wasn’t all work, some parts were fun.”

“Like what?”

Hunk froze, face taking on a raspberry tinge. “Y’know… cooking… laundry…”

Shiro’s face twisted in disbelief. “Uh huh. Laundry. For real?”

“W-well there were some other things too…”

“ _ Like? _ ” He probed. By all accounts, he was pretty dang sure that week had just been work on top of work for the two of them.

“Heat… Bingo...?

“ _ WHAT?! _ ” Shiro stammered. Hunk looked away guiltily, right at a stack of suspiciously stamped grid papers beside Pidge. Pidge was staring at him with the same look she’d had when she’d tried to cover up accidentally wiping his laptop. He reached for the sheets.

“Oh look…. I think I hear Coran calling me needing these reports!” Pidge slammed her laptop shut and grabbed the sheets off the desk before booking it out of the room, a quick “Bye Shiro!” as she swung around the doorframe, leaving him and Hunk alone and all too suspicious about the fate of those papers.

“Heat… Bingo…?”

Hunk gave him a sheepish smile. “Pidge’s idea. Trying to make surveillance duty a bit more enjoyable by turning it into a game. Nothing bad, I promise. Her card was mainly filled with weird noises.”

The need to sit down was rising in him. “Weird… noises… oh god that’s right, you heard all them didn’t you?”

“Hey, hey, not as many as you’d think. We got the voice recognition working a bit after and then we barely had to listen to the audio unless you were calling for one of us. It’s probably why I won. I had a bunch of generic stuff like we’d have to do laundry twice in a day.”

Shiro pouted. “That still doesn’t exactly make me feel better.”

“Would it help that neither of us got more than eight squares? I was just super lucky with where I put things.”

“A little,” he grumbled, but there wasn’t much bite to it. It made sense, and if he were being honest, being on heat or rut monitoring for one of the others for hours at a time he’d probably have looked forward to a way to make the chores fun too. “Are there any I want to hear about?”

Hunk sucked at a lip, thinking. “Hard to remember them all, but none of the really pessimistic or embarrassing ones we thought of actually happened. There was one though… I was kind of hoping for it.”

“Please tell me it was ‘heat ends early and everyone lives happily ever after’.”

“Not quite,” Hunk chuckles, “but similar realm kinda? Might have just misread things. In any case, I’ll make sure Pidge burns them before Lance or Keith have a chance to find them. There’s nothing bad on them, just some things you might not like the idea of them imagining.”

His ears were already turning pink with the potential thoughts of what those squares could be. “Oh god…” he whimpered, “what the hell were they?”

“Just… descriptions of noises and stuff that might seem… not out of place in a porno?” Hunk’s lips were pressed together with guilt. “I only remember one or two of them, but chances are even Pidge and I’ll forget them in another week or two. Look, I’m sorry we did it,” he said, soft doe-like eyes shining with sincerity. “I’ll make sure it doesn’t happen again, if your heat ever does come back like that. Not that it will, but… yeah.”

“Thanks Hunk,” he mumbled as the other trailed off. Hunk was right, now that he had these pills, it was never coming back again, not like that. He suddenly felt tired now, ready to sleep for days. Without another word he began making his way out of the lab. The pill bottle in his hand made little shaker sounds with each step and he paused, one hand above the door lock. “Do I have to take these at the same time every day?”

“Ideally yeah, but it shouldn’t do too much harm if you’re adjusting the schedule the first few days to what works for you.” Hunk smiled at him over the workbench, a colossal device somehow pulled out of nowhere and dismantled in front of him. At Shiro’s look of disbelief he laughed. “It was just on the shelf underneath Shiro.”

“Oh, right. Much more sense.”

Hunk nodded, wrench in hand, some alien carburetor-like device in the other, ready to get back to work. Shiro was about to leave, cool glass of the open pad under his palm when Hunk called out to him again. 

“Shiro, you know Lance and Keith aren’t mind readers, right?”

He stilled. 

“If there’s something you want to talk to them about you can’t count on them to bring it up, okay?”

Shiro pressed down on the door lock, face held out of view. As much as he’d thought he hadn’t been obvious, Hunk seemed to have seen through him. The edges of the pill bottle cut into his palm as he squeezed it. It would be alright. He’d go back to who he was before, he’d be happy with that. 

“I know.” 

At least, he  _ told  _ himself that.

* * *

It had been three days. Three days where he loyally took those little pills, three days where he couldn’t tell if they were working or not. Pidge had told him there really wouldn’t be a noticeable difference until his next heat, but he wasn't sure if he wanted to wait that long to find out. Seventy-two hours was already long enough for him to know he was already nervous for next month, and the next after. 

If Pidge and Hunk had given these to him a month ago, before his heat ever came back, he’d have been overjoyed. He’d have grumbled about the symptoms, found some way to plug himself up and hide the smell of slick from the rest of them, and continued on with his charade of playing Alpha. It was all he knew back then, people looking at him as a born leader instead of a duck furiously paddling to stay afloat beneath the smooth surface of that exterior. He’d have done anything to preserve that, avoid the chance for anyone to judge him for how he’d been born. 

But  _ now _ , now he knew. 

Now he knew that while  _ yes, _ his teammates did look at him differently now, it wasn’t with pity or disgust, but understanding. How letting them know one extra detail about him made so much of a difference he still wasn’t sure, but he was feeling the results more and more with each passing day. Pidge was almost more comfortable with him now, a smile curling on her lips whenever he came to sit beside her and letting her make herself at home in his lap, sometimes giving him a little knowing pat on the cheek when the platonic touch relaxed his tired body. Hunk was practically becoming more and more perceptive as the days went by. Shiro’d always shied away from cooking before, worried about being teased and found out by a love of domestic hobbies, but Hunk had quashed that in a second when Shiro’d almost melted into his chair at the taste of Hunk’s latest chef’s special.  _ ‘Everyone needs to know how to feed themselves, what you are has nothing to do with how you do it, _ ’ the Beta’d said with a knowing look. Since then he’d been pulling Shiro into the kitchen to help him learn how to make his favourite Earth dishes here in space. It was like a little pocket of home coming from his own hands. He was still nowhere near as good at Hunk when it came to spices, but he’d graduated from burning things to a stew that had even Lance and Keith smiling as they tried it for the first time. 

Lance and Keith…

He couldn’t even begin to describe those two now. They were just…  _ them _ , beyond any expectations he could have had.  _ Them and more  _ was all he could use to describe the pair. It was like crouching down to admire his garden at eye level for the first time, the individual grains of dirt and rock, the smallest new buds, every last vein and stamen visible in them for the first time. A whole new level of appreciation for what he had. 

Not that they were his. Shiro gnawed his lip at that. It was fair to say he was as much theirs right now as they were his, a concept on his mind ever since that time, falling asleep between them and waking up to the feeling or their warm bulks against his own. It felt safe,  _ right _ , but at the same time he couldn’t find the way to shape those words in his throat, tell them how he felt beyond relieved and happy. If they didn’t want such a thing they never showed it. At the same time, they never showed they did. He was always welcome to settle down and lean up against them, letting the soft aromas of their own smells wash over him and calm him. The feeling was hard to describe, like curling up in blankets fresh from the dryer, but even in his soul. He was grateful for it every time, even more so when he found himself relaxing between the two of them, so soothing he’d start to nod off more often than not. 

But that brought him back to this. Shiro eyed the bottle on his nightstand. As much as he enjoyed this closeness with the two of them, there was something in him, deep inside him screaming it wasn’t enough. Try as he might to ignore the voice, it spoke truth. Where they were now was a closeness like family or close friends, something they enjoyed together in the day, but never at night. Not since that one time. He wanted more. Just how much, or how far he still hadn’t worked out. All he knew is that this neediness wasn’t like him, or the past him at least. It was too hard to voice without the excuse of a heat swaying the words from him. He could see himself saying those things then, asking them to stay closer, snuggled safely between them, even… even asking for that.  _ Without that…  _ Shiro pressed his lips together, guessing the days until a new suppressant was made. With his security blanket back in place, there was no reason, no extra push to help him force himself out there where he knew we wanted to be. 

Shiro took one more look at the little bottle. 

He had to be honest before then, or risk doing so never. 

* * *

“See, it’s not so bad once we finally got in.”

Keith looked uncertainly at Lance, or at least, the half of his head not submerged did. He pulled his lips just barely out of the water. “You’re telling me none of this is freaking you out.  _ Seriously? _ ” As he spoke the center spoke of his bangs flapped up, dangling straight up in midair. 

Or at least, straight up from their perspective. Altean pools were weird and all. 

It had taken them the better part of half an hour to figure out how to get in, Keith trying to scale the sculpture on the ground below it, until Lance had figured out they could swim  _ up _ the pillars. Anything of their bodies that stayed in the water adhered to the weird altered gravity of the pool, but anything else followed the rules of the rest of the ship, desperately trying to fall to the floor some dozen feet above their heads right now. 

Lance had already lost his juice pack. Keith seemed to be determined not to follow the same fate. 

“C’mon Keith, it’s nice! You have to admit, with no bathtubs on the ship this is the closest we’ll ever get to a good soak in the tub.” Lance stretched out and stuck a foot out of the water, watching the droplets rain up and off his toes. Come to think of it, a bathbomb or the likes would be great in here. It really was like a bath, none of that chlorine smell to be found, great wafts of steam dancing around them. 

“S’fine,” Keith mumbled, but Lance knew he was enjoying it.

“You think there’s a reason for why Altean pools are like this? Like back on their homeworld all lakes are upside down or something?”

“Probably saves on floorspace.”

Lance snorted. “C’mon Keith, be more creative.”

“No really, think about it Lance. With a pool on the ceiling they can do whatever they want with the floor below. I mean…” Keith hesitated for a second, eying Lance cautiously. “If there things like Altean spas… they could have the massages and hot sand pits and sleeping mats below. Even like a cool plunge below so you could jump between the two.”

“ _ Dang,” _ Lance whistled, “Keith, you never told me you liked spas.”

“I don’t,” Keith huffed. “At least… not the hoity toity ones.  Bathhouses though… those are nice. Haven’t been to one since I was a kid though.”

“Really?” Lance leaned back, thinking. So Keith actually did like that type of thing, albeit the ‘non hoity-toity’ type, but still, it was a good start. “So, you’d be down to do masks and a soak some time?”

There was a resounding cloud of bubbles from Keith’s mouth as the other looked away. If he listened close enough Lance thought he caught the tail end of a ‘maybe’.

“You can do whatever kind of bathhouse thing you want to me,” he offered, and Keith turned around to smile at him.

“Even an Italy towel scrub?”

Lane shrugged. “Sure why not?”

“What colour would you want? Pink, green or blue?”

“Blue,  _ duh _ .”

Keith barked out a laugh, one hand smacking the water and raining more drops up into the air as he fought to contain his breathing, tears almost welling up in his eyes at something as simple as Lance’s choice in towel colour.

“Is- is there something weird about that?”

“Oh… oh god,” Keith gasped, “Oh my god Lance… Lance… you have no idea.” He doubled over, slapping the water even harder now, a huge crest of a wave rising up and out in front of him. Lance could hear it hit the ground below with a great smack and a sharp yelp.  _ Yelp _ … he looked up, or well, down. 

A full story below them, bangs plastered to his face and eyes wide in shock was Shiro, sputtering up at them between rivulets of water running down his face. It took a low groan of “guys…” from him for Keith to stop his laughing and look up, only to shoot up to standing in surprise. 

“Shiro! What are you doing here? Are you-” he started, but never quite finished. Standing on the seat of the ledge he’d been perched on, Keith’s hips had come out of the water, and with them his center of mass. He looked back at Lance with bugging eyes as his knees slid out of the water on their own accord, desperately begging for help, but by the time Lance threw a hand out to grab his ankle Keith was already clean out of the water, hurtling towards the ground with the most un-Keithlike scream.

There was a grunt and a sharp gasp, followed by silence. Lance wasn’t sure he dared peek out from behind his lashes until there was the efforted strain of Shiro’s voice. 

“Caught… him…”

Lance looked down. Shiro was half on his back, half on his ass, with Keith cradled in his arms like a newlywed. Neither of them seemed to be able to move, Shiro by Keith’s weight, and Keith by his sheer position. 

Even when he slipped down one of the many pillars to the pool and dashed over to help the two of them up they’re hardly moved, both looking opposite ways like a couple of third graders caught crushing on each other. 

“What? No cherry blossoms for this moment?” he joked. It seemed to do the trick. Shiro cleared his throat and helped Keith out of his lap, graciously accepting Lance’s hand to help him up in turn. 

“Wh-what are you doing here?” Keith tried again, still not fully disguising the fact that his ears were approaching the colour of his swim trunks. 

“Looking for you guys?” Shiro blinked at them, as if it’s the most obvious answer in the world, which it kind of was. “I wanted to talk to you… about stuff.”

“Oh cool,” Keith stammered. “What is it?”

Shiro continued to look at them, face a light pink with something more than just exertion. Lance followed the track of his eyes, landing squarely on his waist and the gentle slope of Keith’s shoulders. He watched, half amused, half unsteady as Shiro’s eyes tracked down his legs, the other fighting hard to do something with his mouth other than open and close it wordlessly. 

“S-should we maybe get dressed Shiro?”

The Omega startled at that, face breaking out in a full blush at being caught staring. “Y-yeah, if you could.” He watched silently as they grabbed their towels and dried off, hardly moving until the two of them were covered back up in their robes. Lance could have sworn he saw him mumbling things under his breath while they did so. At long last they were done, but Shiro seemed nowhere closer to talking.

“You guys maybe want to sit down some place too?” Keith offered, and the look of relief of Shiro’s face was enough of an answer for the both of them. They made their way back to the break room, Shiro settling quietly on the end of the sofa as Lance and Keith came to sit across from him, watching in wait. 

“So,” Lance encouraged, “you wanted to talk about something?” The way Shiro seemed on edge had him poised, ready to leap off the seat at a moment’s notice. Shiro seemed wary of it too, fiddling with the fingers of his glove between glances at the two of them, uncertain of whether to speak or not. Keith gave him a little beckoning motion and he swallowed, fingers thumbing together as he stared down into his lap. 

“I don’t want things to go back to the way before.”

Lance stopped breathing. His heart stalled in his chest. He knew he really couldn’t have hoped for much out of everything they’d been through together, didn’t let himself think for a minute any of it would be real after. He told himself to stay calm, fight the butterflies growing slowly in his stomach. 

“What do you mean Shiro?” Keith’s face was drawn up in a frown.  _ How could he not…?  _

“I…” Shiro looked at the two of them in surprise. “I… thought you’d… never mind.” He raked his hand through his hair, and Lance watched every drop that glistened from his white locks into his fingers. “I’m really not good with saying all this, I’d probably never do it if I didn’t think I really needed to. I guess… I guess I’m saying, I’m tired of hiding who I am.”

Lance’s heart was back, and it was racing now. 

_ Please.  _

_ Please god. _

“I… I don’t feel as scared anymore about what people will think, because I know the people closest to me don’t feel that way. It makes me want to try more...  _ do  _ more. Stuff I’d never let myself do back when I was trying to hide things.” Shiro let out a small snort of derision. Lance could see how his hands clenched around one another as he prepared himself again. 

“I don’t expect much, and I know everything’s going to be strange and new, but I want to keep exploring this. I’m not going to run from being and Omega anymore.” He bit his lip and Lance couldn’t have stared at him harder if he was the rising sun. “Including the good parts of it.”

“Are… are you,” Lance stammered, one finger oscillating between Shiro and Keith’s chests. “Are you actually saying...?”

“Saying what?” Keith pouted, looking down at where Lance’s finger jutted towards his person, and Lance could see realization dawning on the other’s features. The blank look, the widening eyes, the way his eyebrows and top lip drew up as he stared down at that single digit. He stared at it like an infant coming face to face with a brand new reality. “You’re… you’re kidding,” he cracked. “It’s… it’s just because we’re the only ones here…”

Shiro shook his head, that small spark of light in his face clouded over. “It’s not that. If…  _ when _ we ever get back to earth,” he corrected himself, “what are the chances I’m going to find someone who understands everything I’ve been through? Gets what’s important to me? Treats me how they know I want to be treated, even if I don’t know it yet myself.” A timid smile crept into Shiro’s lips and Lance swore he died as those storm grey eyes look up into his own. “I don’t think I’ll ever find anyone half as close to that as you two.”

He could see the hope there, the pleading, every fibre of strength Shiro was using to push this far. He was bare, laid more naked than he was during his heat. This time it wasn’t his body, but his heart, his soul, and Lance couldn’t for the life of him find the words. Keith couldn’t either, the two of them staring at Shiro with shock and relief and joy. The Omega… no, the man sitting in front of them, more human than ever in that moment than any Lance had ever seen him in. He could feel warmth in his chest swell to overflowing, threatening to spill from his eyes as he fully grasped this new reality. 

“I… if you don’t feel that way, I won’t -”

Lance didn’t let him finish those words of self doubt. His hands wound around Shiro’s cheeks, past the soft shells of his ears and into the wet strands of his hair. He could see Shiro’s eyes go wide as he leaned closer to him, felt the flush in his face in the base of his palms as he closed his eyes and the distance between them.

There was no urgency in the kiss, no ulterior motive behind the way his lips melded against Shiro’s. All there was was a firm presence, warm and reassuring against Shiro’s uncertainty. 

He could feel the other slowly relax, the open ‘ _ oh _ ’ of realization give way to the gentle cupping of his own mouth and Lance ran over, tears welling in the corners of his eyes as Shiro leaned deeper into him. He scrunched his hands in Shiro’s hair, committing every string of this moment to memory. No words needed, no sound at all, only the feeling between them where they met.

Keith was there, as Lance finally pulled away, there to gently take Shiro’s face in his hands and direct their lips together. Shiro’s cheeks glinted with the hint of tears as he closed them again, sinking into Keith. Lance let his hands fall down off Shiro’s neck, slide along his arm to take his hand. Shiro’s grip, hot and tight, held him like he’d never let him go and Lance leaned into the Omega’s shoulder. He could feel the warmth of Shiro’s body against his brow, hear the faint noise of Shiro’s heartbeat in his chest, smell his soothing smell. Without words, he knew the feeling in Shiro’s heart. The same as the one in his own, the same that Keith no doubt shared. 

“I… I can’t believe...” Keith’s voice, cracked and raw tumbled out in the small bubble the three of them occupied. Lance came to rest his cheek against Shiro’s, head brushing against Keith’s bangs. Gently, tenderly, he brought a hand to the other’s knee, rubbing small circles into Shiro’s palm and it. 

“Me too…” he whispered. 

It was all so warm between them, sunrise and sunset. He could stay here forever in this new dawn, the three of them together. Soft and right, as if it had always been meant to be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you're curious about Italy towels, they're these Korean exfoliating cloths. Blue just so happens to be the most abrasive and for a new comer to using them, not going to be a fun time :3c
> 
> You're 100% allowed to come @ me on twitter and call me out tomorrow (Feb 17) if i get distracted with watching the olympics and start procrastinating posting. @teiandcake if you feel down for it i'm mainly 50% bunnies and 50% shiro thirst


	14. One Dick Two Dick, Red Dick, Blue Dick

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So at long, LONG last, we end this fic, alternately titled "Tei cucks themselves out of their favourite smut staples for 70k words and FINALLY lets herself write some of her favourite kinks"
> 
> Enjoy (:

Shiro was warm. Beyond warm. He was bathed in sunny afternoons and hot chocolate by the fire. His body was beyond relaxed, like honey in tea or grass blowing in the wind. He let out a sigh, sinking deeper into the mattress, the breath leaving him letting him meld even more in place than before, chasing that lazy, near-sleep feeling that was slowly threatening to leave him. It was too early, he was too comfortable, but with every ticking minute he could feel himself a little less in dream and a little more in reality. 

He readjusted, trying to burrow back into that feeling. 

Partway through, something bumped against his ass.

Shiro let out a huff, wiggling back on the something, trying to figure out what it was without opening his eyes. 

Since he’d confessed he’d been hard pressed to find a night he spent without Lance and Keith. It was like he’d struck down whatever code the two Alphas had been following before, the two of them now more than honest about when they wanted time with him. It had been cramped at first, when they’d begun to wander into his room after everyone had gone to bed, Keith hugging his pillow to his chest and Lance still rubbing the last of his cleanser from his face. The first few nights Shiro had woken up in the early hours of morning to find an elbow or finger jammed someplace unexpected, and on one occasion, to falling off the bed, but somewhere along the line they’d figured each other out. Now they slotted together in the small bunk almost on instinct, filling the gaps left by the others. He’d never slept better. 

Right now… Shiro wriggled about a bit, careful not to jostle Lance or Keith too much. Someone was hugging his waist, their face pressed into his stomach, body draped in one of his legs. The other was at his back. He could feel soft breathing against his neck - the other one  -one of their arms squeezed under his chest. Their knees were drawn up to where his were too, leaving…

Shiro sucked in a breath, suddenly hyper aware of the body part poking one of his cheeks.  _ Their dick _ . He could feel their dick against his ass, half-mast and far past half-interesting. He was wide awake now. All of his attention was fixated on that morning wood bumping up against him. Carefully, so as not to wake the one hugging his front, he started to readjust. A little twist here, a little scooting back there. All to try and work it closer to the cleft of his ass. 

It wasn’t that they hadn’t done anything per say… there’d been kissing,  _ lots of kissing _ , and hands roaming up and down all over, but nothing beyond second base. Nothing… below the belt, and it wasn’t for lack of interest. Lately Shiro had found himself trying to sneak more glances of Keith or Lance when he could. Despite spending so much of his heat with them he had no idea what they looked like down there. If he was being honest, he hadn’t seen them even close to naked beyond the time he’d found them at the pool. So instead he’d been sneaking peaks as a shirt rode up to reveal an inch of hip bone, eyeing crotches in their paladin armour during long, overdrawn diplomatic talks. 

He wanted to see more. 

_ Wanted more _ .

His next adjustment had their cock slipping around the curve of his rear and into his cleft. The head, still trapped in their clothes butted into the small of his back. If he rutted his hips up and down he could begin to feel their shape. It was hard to say for sure. Resting at the crest of his ass and not inside did little to tell him about how endowed they were, but he knew for a fact he wasn’t hitting their hips like this. Big enough. Lately he’d been thinking about this type of thing more often, what their cocks were like. How big were they? How did they taste? How fat were their knots and how much come could they spew over and into him?

A familiar wetness was spreading between his legs and Shiro suppressed a groan. 

That had to be it. It was nearly a month since then, right back at that point in his cycle, where his body would be sensitive to everything. The feeling of that clothed dick against his back was more than enough to get him going, imagine where it  _ could  _ be going,  _ very soon _ . 

“Shiro…” The one at his front hugged him closer, trying to get him to settle down. He could feel their face burrow into his stomach as they squeezed him close, something butting up against the front of his shorts. “Shiro… what…” they started, but he couldn’t speak, not even as one of their hands came up to grab at what was catching on their shoulder. 

He was hard. Hard in their hand. As their fingers roamed up and down the bulge he fought back a moan, trying and failing to keep his hips from bucking up into their touch. Tightness wrapped around the tip of his dick as he felt their chin settle into his navel. 

“Are you… hard?”

Lance was gazing up at him, blue eyes murky with sleep as something else as he smirked at Shiro. The Omega shot a hand up to his face, holding in another sound as the pad of Lance’s thumb swirled around the head of his cock. He didn’t trust himself to speak right now, not with Lance looking at him with that easy sensual look as he continued to tease his member. He gave a quick bob of his head. His hips rutted back into Keith’s hardness on their own accord as Lance’s tongue peeked out to taste the circuit of his lips. 

“I didn’t take you to be the type so desperate in the mornings Shiro.” Lance kept at his toying, squeezing and tracing Shiro’s cock all the while. “Not that I’m complaining. It’s a good look on you.”He could feel Keith stirring behind him, wiggling closer, dick poking harder against his back and Shiro felt a noise escape him. A whimper of need broke free of his lips as he bit down on his hand. 

“Mmm… Shiro…” Keith was slotting his hips even closer to Shiro’s rear, whether coincidence or on purpose he didn’t care right now. There was a delicious second as the base of Keith’s cock wedged itself between his cheeks, spreading them even as a bead of Keith’s precum soaked through his briefs and rubbed up against his skin. Another groan left him, and at it he feels Keith’s nose butt into the base of his shoulder blade. “You smell good… sweet…”

And there it was, the realization dawning on Keith just as Lance snaked a pinky under his balls to tease at the wetness slowly spreading between his legs. His whole body shook with sensation, pushing back against Keith until he was shoved to the edge of the bed. 

“ _ Someone’s _ horny,” Lance laughed, and Keith let out a huff. 

“Speak for yourself Lance.”

“I’m plenty persuadable right now, thank you,” he said, cocking an eyebrow at Shiro over Keith’s retort back. “I’m guessing it’s not just Shiro who’s getting hard against someone now, is it?”

“He’s?” Keith asks, but his words fall off as Shiro felt Keith press against him with his full weight, warm flesh rubbing against the quickly spreading bloom of slick in his pants. 

“ _ Oh….” _ it’s a purr that leaves Keith, his hips making slow circles against Shiro’s ass, a mirror to Lance’s taunting at his front. “I guess this means you need us to take care of you, doesn’t it?”

“Yes,” he whined. “Please....” Delusions were already filling his head, memories of the last time they’d done it swimming tantalizingly to the surface. 

“Anything in particular Shiro?” Lance took his time, tracing the line of Shiro’s stomach as he listed off things off that would make a porn star blush. “We could eat you out… or toy with your dick so hard you even come with nothing inside you…”

Shiro let out a whine of displeasure.   _ God no _ . His hole was aching to be filled right now. “N-No…” he gasped, “you’re going inside me.”

“So forward,” Keith hummed, one of his hands roaming around Shiro’s chest to take a tit in hand. “So I suppose you want fingers then… maybe even my whole hand again… or maybe…” he tweaked a nipple and Shiro jolted. “Maybe you want the real thing.”

Shiro’s eyes blew wide in time with Lance’s at the proposition. Their dicks… he’d never admitted to them how much he wanted that, to feel the full heat of them sheathed inside him, sealing themselves and their seed inside him, filling him out until he begged for more. The thought of it had him grinding back on Keith anew. 

“So which of us do you want first Shiro? Keith… or me?”

Shiro bit his lip.  _ God _ , that was impossible. He wanted them both inside him so badly, letting his insides meld around their shape, committing them in place and in memory as they took him for the first time of many.  

“ _ Both. _ ”

Lance and Keith stilled, as if they hadn’t quite hear him right.

“You mean, you want us, one after the other?” 

“No,” he groaned. “ _ Both. Together _ .” 

Fuck… the very idea of it had him even slicker. Being stretched to the limits around them, claimed by his two Alphas at once. Heat was already pooling in his stomach at the thought. He might be able to come from the prospect alone. 

“Shiro…” Lance chuckled nervously, “are you sure?”

He rolled his eyes and grabbed their hands, sliding them between his legs until they rested up against his too-sensitive hole. “I want to feel what it’s like, getting knotted by you both, same place, same time.” 

As soon as the words left him, a fresh burst of slick slid from inside him. Lance sucked in a breath. He could feel Keith’s cock grow harder against his back. 

“Well, I guess we’ve got a ways to open you up then.” Without further fanfare Keith slipped two fingers through the leg of Shiro’s shorts, tugging the fabric aside until they were pressing up against and into his waiting hole. Shiro let out a moan of satisfaction as they began to probe his rim. “Might be here awhile,” he smiled. “Probably’ll have you coming around these before too long.”

Lance gave his cock another twist and Shiro fought back coming on the spot. It wasn’t fair when they teamed up on him like this. It was  _ fun _ , but he hardly had a chance with both ends trapped between them like this. 

“Lance, st-stop…” he gasped, taking Lance’s hand off his member. The Alpha pouted at him in displeasure and the face shot through him straight to the core. For a second he almost offered Lance he could keep going, but that wasn’t any good. He wanted to be as on-edge as possible as they slid inside him for the first time. “Just… not there…”

Lance let out a huff, but he knew it was good natured. “What, so you just want me sitting around twiddling my thumbs while Keith gets to have all the fun with you?”

“No,” he said, arching back as Keith’s fingers began to scissor his rim. “I…” he licked his lips, trying to catch a glimpse of where Lance’s waist lay buried under their legs. “Why don’t I pay you some attention?”

He’d never seen Lance’s face go red so fast. It was like watching a pitcher fill with cherry Koolaid, spreading from his neck to his forehead in seconds and continuing to creep out into his ears. 

“I…. I….” Lance stammered. 

_ Ah. So Lance could dish it out, but couldn’t take it. Good to know _ , Shiro smiled. 

“Anything you want,” he said, letting his voice drop to a lower register in that same way that had his whole body setting on fire whenever his Alphas did it. “So long as it’s not involving down here I’m all for it.”

Keith fucked his fingers hard into Shiro’s passage. He let out an indignant squeak as he felt them drill down into his most sensitive spot. 

“I hope you’re planning to reciprocate that later with me too.” Keith’s voice was a purr in his ears, all smoke and spice as he worked the soft flesh of Shiro’s passage between his fingers, threatening to make his mind go blank.

“ _ Fuck yes _ ,” Shiro keened, and Keith let up his assault on Shiro’s senses to return to opening him up normally. 

“So Lance, what are you going to have Shiro do to you?” Keith said as he took a few seconds to trace around the rim of Shiro’s hole, earning a well-deserved moan. 

“I…” Lance stuttered, looking up at Shiro as if he was really seeing him for the first time. It really did remind him how inexperienced he was, blushing and tongue-tied like a virgin. “I… can you… we…  _ tit job _ ?” he squeaked.

“What did you say?” Shiro was pretty sure he’d heard the word job in there, but  _ what kind _ he was still clueless. 

“T-t-tit job… like… with your chest.”

“ _ Oh.” _ Shiro breathed. “ _ Oh….” _

“I-it’s silly, its fine, I’m…”

“With your dick?” Shiro was already looking down at his chest. It’d always been easy for him to bulk up there, fat or muscle, and no matter which he’d always had that same sensitivity in them. Having Lance fuck them, let alone the view he’d have of it…

Shiro licked his lips. “Do it.  _ Now. _ ”

Lance pulled back, eyes wide at the command, coming to sit at his side as Keith continued to play with him. He could feel a third finger start to enter him, hole finally beginning to fight back against the stretch somewhat. The other Alpha let out a grunt of annoyance and began to move away from Shiro’s back, never for a moment stopping his motions. As he moved behind Shiro’s hips he fucked his fingers knuckle deep, smile twisting on his lips as Shiro’s back arched off the bed. 

“Just because I had to move,” he shrugged, smugness plastered over his face, and grabbed a pillow to settle under Shiro’s hips, then a second. 

His entire lower half was lifted off the bed now, giving him his first glimpse of himself down there. His grey briefs were soaked near-black right between his thighs where even now half of Keith’s hand was disappearing inside. Where they weren’t wet they were straining against his mast, tented forward at his face with the prospect of shooting him square between the eyes should he come that instant. Keith was letting out little noises of approval, his other hand pulling the crotch of Shiro’s underwear aside to watch his fingers sink into the Omega’s heat. 

“Y-you can take them off you know,” Shiro gasped, but Keith silenced him with one look of those dark eyes. 

“And spoil the view? Come on Lance, have your fun before I decide to fuck him proper.”

The other Alpha let out another flustered sound and started fiddling with the drawstrings of his pants. Shiro looked on eagerly. The baggy fabric wasn’t letting him see much, but from what he could glean Lance was hard, tucked right just like he’d been before, the lump on the inside of his thigh a dead giveaway. He could see it bob in place as Lance undid the fastenings, moving in place behind his motions and creating fresh little blooms of precum in the soft silk. Lance dipped his thumbs into the waistband, exposing those sharp hipbones and Shiro couldn’t help but lick his lips as Lance pulled them down. 

His cock sprang out of his pants with a heavy smack, splashing some of the liquid oozing from it’s tip against Lance’s stomach and spraying several drops onto Shiro’s bare chest. The Omega let out a shudder around Keith’s fingers in him as the other Alpha swung a leg over his torso, straddling him, leaving him to oogle the sight in from of him. 

Lance’s cock, much like it’s owner, was long and lanky. Starting with a small head and tapering out down to the base of his knot, the tip blushed rosy, decorated with a new pearl of Lance’s excitement. He couldn’t see Lance’s balls so much as feel them, twin weights at the base of his sternum, hidden by a nest of dark brown curls. They bumped against the bottoms of his pecs as Lance made himself comfortable. He was more than ready for them to spill their contents over him, painting him in hot ropes of Lance’s come. If he could have craned his neck further he could have kissed the tip jutting towards his face.

“Holy shit…” he breathed. 

Lance let out a chuckle, leaning forward to better press his privates into Shiro. “And we’re just getting started. Keith, any response down there?”

“He’ll be dehydrated by the time we get to fucking him at this rate,” came Keith’s reply, and Shiro held back a moan as fingers dragged up and down his taint, spreading his arousal along the sensitive skin. 

“Well then, I guess I’d better get started now, shouldn’t I Shiro?” Lance’s hands came to rest on Shiro’s chest, cupping each breast in hand. The blue of his eyes had deepened to the depths of the ocean, cock dripping onto Shiro’s collarbone. “You want me to, don’t you?”

Shiro bobbed his head.  _ God yes _ . He wanted this now. 

“Say it.”

Shiro’s cock trembled under that stare. He didn’t need to tell Lance how much his orders turned him on.

“F-f-fuck me... Lance.”

A syrupy smile washed over Lance’s face, covering the brief squeak of delight the Alpha made. His hands kneaded into Shiro’s pecs, squeezing them, raking fingers up the sensitive flesh as he leaned into position. Shiro could feel his balls press harder into his chest as the meat of Lance’s cock slid between his pecs. Lance smiled down at him, thumbs stroking over Shiro’s pert nipples and making the Omega whine for more. It was right there… Lance’s cock, right there… ready…

Lance squeezed them both and pressed them together. 

Shiro wasn’t prepared. Having something come to rest against his chest was one thing. He was used to his mates sleeping against it, finding their noses buried in the valley. This was Lance’s cock, hot and dripping, rutting between his pecs as if it were his ass, fucking himself right where Shiro could see. It was the texture of that cock, the tip, the veins, the slight swell where the knot would form, thrusting between the globes of his chest and letting Shiro feel  _ every last part  _ of the cock that was soon to be inside him for real. It was Lance toying with his nipples as if he was tuning Shiro’s body to the perfect frequency, dialing his sensitivity to a point where the Omega couldn’t tell if he’d rather be fucked in his ass or like this for the rest of his life. 

All the while Keith was continuing to play with him below. He’d taken up a rhythm slower than Lance’s, so that every half dozen thrusts his fingers would press up against that spot inside Shiro that had him seeing white. Left to chase it as they fell back out of sync, whining and begging them to fuck him more like that. He was trying to hike his hips up further, open himself up more to Keith and slide Lance further up his chest to bring his dick that much closer. Every little jerk he made brought Lance slipping closer, only for the Alpha to catch on to what he was doing and sit back up his chest, bring him back to square one but with all the frustration remaining. 

His tits were shining now with Lance’s precum, glistening in the low light and shimmering like ripples each time that cock slid between them again and again. He never knew they could be this sensitive. Each fingertip that dug into them, twisted them this way or that was a needle of sensation, lighting every last nerve aflame to the feeling of his Alpha fucking him. This was why they’d been made this way, so sensitive his nipples could harden at a moments notice. It was for his Alphas to touch, to tease, to give him so much pleasure even without a knot. 

He loved it. 

He could feel the base of Lance’s cock begin to harden further, the sign of what was to come. Each time he thrust forwards Shiro felt his tits fight harder against its girth, its shape sending pleasure deeper and deeper into his body. He was too far gone at this point. He was going to come from this alone, the sight of Lance’s cock thrusting back and front before his eyes, flushed and ready to spill. 

Shiro chanced a glance upwards at his mate. Eyes closed and mouth open, Lance was lost to feeling, hips jackrabbiting forward on their own accord. He could almost see the little puffs of breath leave him. Beads of sweat slid down the bridge of his nose and curve of his jaw as noises left him, little grunts and gasps of enjoyment. His breathing grew shallower, his grip on Shiro’s chest growing tighter, and with a moan he came. 

Hot ropes of come shot from the tip of his cock, painting themselves over Shiro’s face and hair. A stripe landed over his lips and an eye, leaving him to watch Lance spill the rest of himself through a single blown pupil. Shiro grabbed his own tits and squeezed, helping to milk more of Lance’s seed out onto himself and his waiting mouth. He could taste it, Lance’s taste, one half of a whole he’d started to learn weeks before. 

The final few spurts dribbled down Shiro’s neck, slowly trailing down the lines of his jaw on their inevitable way to the sheets. Lance sagged over him, eyes half lidded and far away as he gazed down at Shiro. Slowly he came out of it, wiping the errant string of seed over Shiro’s eye. 

“ _ H-holy shit… _ ” he breathed. Shiro took his hand in his, guiding the cum-covered finger to his waiting mouth and licking a stripe up it’s length.  _ “H-h-holy…” _ Lance said again, this time in even more disbelief. 

“ _ Fuck… _ ” Shiro gasped, “we… that’s happening again.”

He sat up on his elbows to better survey Lance’s handy work. His chest was a mess of a Jackson Pollock painting, splashes of come and sweat everywhere, hints of bruises blossoming where Lance had gripped him when he came. Resting between the base of his tits was Lance’s knot, half formed and still hard. Despite not being locked inside tight Omega heat he’d still managed to swell this much, let alone come as much as he had. Shiro felt his mouth water at the prospect of the real deal locking itself inside him. 

“You have enough for later Lance?” Keith joked from behind them, now four fingers deep in Shiro and manhandling his balls for extra effect. It had the Omega sinking into the sheets, trying to open himself up as much as possible for him. “Otherwise I’m more than happy to take over from here.”

“Oh, I’m way more than a one-pump-chump, hothead,” Lance grinned. “Don’t know if I can speak for you. How much experience do you have jacking it all night long?”

“Into my own hand? Probably less than you.”

Shiro felt Keith’s body shake with laughter as Lance sank against his stomach. 

“Th-that’s not what…”

“ _ Lance, _ you walked  _ yourself _ into that one,” cackled Keith. “But enough with your Friday nights. Isn’t it my turn?”

“If I remember right, his exact words were ‘ _ Fuck yes _ ’. Isn’t that right Shiro?” Lance slid off his stomach, leaving him with the sight of his too Alphas gazing at him hungrily.  _ Right. He still had Keith. _ Keith, who’s tent was pitched so high boy scouts could have camped under there. 

He felt his mouth drop open in want. 

“Please.” He rolled over onto his stomach, crawling closer to Keith’s still hidden bulge. The mound of pillows he’d been resting on were saturated with his smell, almost cloyingly so, but he pushed that back, resting his chin on them to stare at Keith’s crotch in earnest. 

“What are you thinking?” One of Keith’s hands came to brush through Shiro’s hair, combing Lance’s slick from his bangs and no doubt gelling a few strands back. 

“I want it,” Shiro breathed. 

“Want it?” Keith’s voice was dipped in dark chocolate, sugared with an edge as he continued to rub a hand through Shiro’s hair. How he was so weak to this, this feeling of fingers running along his scalp and caressing his ears he’d never know, only that he hoped it never stopped. 

“Your cock. In my mouth.”

Keith’s fingers stilled. Shiro could hear the breath leave him. He chanced a look up. 

Keith’s face was flushed, lips kissably pink and parted, staring off into space in disbelief. His bedhead sprang in all directions, his hair curling into that perfect messy contour of his face Shiro loved. He ran a hand up and down Keith’s thigh, bringing those wide eyes back down to earth, back to him. 

“I want to taste you,” he continued, emboldened by the way Keith’s voice hitched and his hand knotted in Shiro’s hair drawing him closer. “Want you on my tongue, coming down my throat. I had a taste once, and now I want the real thing.” 

His tongue swiped out to lick a drop of Lance’s cum off his nose and Keith sucked in a breath. 

“Think you can handle that, baby?”

Breath held, Keith nodded.

Shiro moved a hand over the zipper of Keith’s jeans, a tease, as he thumbed the button until the Alpha caved. This was it, Keith’s actual cock. Time at last to see the real thing. Keith let out a huff of impatience and Shiro took it as his go ahead, popping the button and inching the zipper down tooth by tooth. It was like a game of jenga, waiting to see which would be the last to hold before everything sprang loose, Keith’s dick freeing itself of the denim confines and into his waiting hands. A quarter down.

Halfway down

Three quarters. 

Keith’s cock shot skyward as the next tooth gave up its hold, the tip proudly butting forward in its uniform of dark navy. Shiro was moving too fast now to properly appreciate it as it was. He could smell Keith’s musk, and the melding of it with his and Lance’s fluids was enough for him to almost lose his mind. He dipped his hand - his human hand - under the waistband of Keith’s shorts and pulled. 

The instant the head emerged it was at his lips. 

Shiro kissed it like an old friend, warm and gentle as he warmed to its unfamiliar shape. He’d take it in in a second,  _ oh god would he take it in in a second,  _ but right now all he needed was that salty taste on his lips, turning sweet the moment it touched his tongue. It was like the lost part of himself in the moment, what he instinctively knew he needed without ever truly having it. And now it was his. 

He began to kiss down the length, sucking at random whenever Keith’s taste intensified in his mouth. Behind his lashes he studied it in a haze. It was different than Lance’s. A little shorter, but by no means small overall. Circumcised too, he noted, letting his tongue peak out as he traced down the head and a rattling moan left the Alpha. Just like he’d fantasized, from there it continued to swell out, rounding to a fat girth where his hand caressed it before tapering back in. Keith’s curls tickled his nose as he made his way down to the very base, tracing the slight vein on the side. He did slim back down around there, only for it to swell back right at the bottom. Shiro licked a fat stripe around the ring. Above him he could hear both Keith and Lance gasp. 

“ _ Fuck…. _ ” Keith keaned, and from the corner of his eye Shiro could see how Lance watched him. How he looked when his Omega attended to his other mate. Eyes just as dark and lust-filled as when Shiro had been touching him.

The Omega raised his hips, waggling his ass as he began to lav back up the length of Keith’s cock, leaving strings of saliva in his wake. He was empty, and that was a problem. He wanted to please them but part of that came with the requirement of his own needs, insides now throbbing over the loss of Keith inside him. 

“Lance,” Keith warned with the rise of an eyebrow and Shiro felt sweet relief as the other’s touch slid over the curve of his rump to take over. Just like Keith before him, Lance ignored the concept of disrobing the Omega, instead sliding a hand up his inner thigh and through the leg hole to his waiting entrance. Three fingers sank into wet heat and Shiro sighed in pleasure. Back end satisfied, he could dedicate his focus to what was really important. 

Milking Keith. 

He returned to the head, lapping in and around the curves. Down the line underneath, along the cap, tongue delving into the hood whenever he could, much to Keith’s enthusiasm. He was studying it, trying to judge its size, figure out just how much would fit in his mouth and how far down his throat it would have to go.  _ It might even reach the adam’s apple _ , Shiro thought, and his eyes rolled back at that. He kept tonguing the very tip, brushing over Keith’s slit again and again. He could feel the Alpha’s hands knot in his hair, hear his irregular breathing as he teased, lips just kissing the skin. 

In one motion he took it in. 

Immediately he was overtaken with the feeling, of just how hot and heavy Keith was on his tongue. He’d never tried to stuff anything this big in his mouth before, nothing that wasn’t part of a weird food challenge of Matt’s. He barely made it halfway down Keith’s cock when his gag reflex began to kick in. 

_ How the hell was Keith so good at this? _

Not one to be discouraged, Shiro wrapped a hand around the rest of Keith’s dick and began to stroke, short little twists of the hand to make up for his throat’s shortfalls. Keith’s head was moved from the back of his throat to his cheek, stretching it with each bob of his head as he worked his partner along. Lick here, suck there, twist-lick-suck… Shiro kept working them together. If Keith’s voice was anything to go by, this was more than enough to please him. He could taste the salty tang of Keith’s pre as is smeared along the inside of his mouth. 

Every breath he took he tried to work more of Keith’s cock into his mouth, relaxing it in the same way his hole was relaxing as Lance began to add yet another finger inside him. How many at this point he’d lost count, it didn’t matter. What mattered was what was between his lips, making his cheek bulge obscenely and Keith curse under his breath as he watched Shiro in rapt attention.

His teeth caught the length on one pass, grazing along the top of Keith’s cock and he hear his partner gasp. Shiro’s eyes flew open as he looked to the other, searching desperately for a sign of pain. Instead there was heat. Keith’s cheeks had deepened in colour, the look in his eye taking on a dangerous glint as he gazed at the Omega. Shiro let his teeth scrape along the sensitive skin of Keith’s mast again. 

A purr rumbled from Keith, traveling down his cock and through Shiro’s body. 

_ Fuck. He was letting that happen again _

Shiro doubled down on his efforts. Every now and then, at random, he let his teeth ride up Keith’s shape, extra pressure on the still-hardening member. Sometimes he would take his lips clean off Keith’s dick to hear the Alpha growl in displeasure only to dive back down onto it. He let it butt up against the roof of his mouth, make it’s way dangerously close to his throat and the very of gagging only to pull back again, giving Keith a taste of the tight heat that lay just beyond the gates. 

He could feel him grow closer and closer to his edge, Keith’s knot firming in his hand as his cock prepared itself to spill. The Alpha was practically guiding him back and forth on his cock now, fingers twisted in Shiro’s bangs and leading the Omega’s motion back and forth along his member. He was ready for it, for the hot wash of Keith’s seed down his throat, coating his tongue and mouth for him to drink down. He could feel Lance, almost wrist deep in his ass right now, fucking him in time to Keith’s thrusts as if the cock in his mouth controlled the fingers in his cunt. It made him work harder, slide his lips further and further down Keith’s shaft. 

“Mmmm, Keith?” Lance asked lazily, fucking Shiro forward on his hand so that the Omega’s eyes watered with how deep Keith slid between his lips. Keith let out a noise of acknowledgement, eyes hardly flickering away from Shiro’s face, those midnight pools locked in on him, trapping him in their depths. 

“How big would you say the two of us are together? About this?”

Shiro tried to whirl around, to catch sight of Lance was gesturing behind him but Keith held him in place. Gentle pressure on the nape of his neck, making his Omega senses refuse to pull back far enough for Keith’s cock to leave his lips and allow him sight. The Alpha rubbed circles into the top of his spine, easing him back down onto himself as he let out a hum. “About that, more or less.”

Shiro’s mind was going wild. He had some idea,  _ fuck, he had to have some idea.  _ He’d just seen both of their cocks after all, Keith’s was right in front of his face for cripes sake. But try as he might he couldn’t place the two of them side by side in his hand, how much of his palm and fingers they took up. If they needed one hand or two. He whined on Keith’s cock, drool slipping from the corner of his mouth. 

“Great, just what I thought,” Lance said. And with that he pushed the full size of his fist through Shiro’s rim. 

Several things happened at once. The first was the sweet burn and give of his cunt as it accepted Lance’s hand, fucking him to his near limits. The next was the noise his two Alphas made as it sank deeper inside him, and the way Keith’s fingers squeezed at Shiro’s scalp for purchase. It was enough to make him come, and come he did, tightening around the hand inside him as the rush of his orgasm overtook him as his body lost itss pilot. 

The final was Keith’s cock, sliding down his throat in a thick burst of come. 

He felt curls brush at his nose before he truly realized it, the fact Keith was locked in his throat, coming directly down it to his stomach. Right before his lips the knot swelled, a blurry double image as he rode out his own orgasm. He could feel the head inside him, spurting its load, bobbing against his walls as he attempted to swallow and breathe around it, and then he was too aware of it. Of all that come slipping past his tongue, of all that taste sliding away. 

He rose off Keith’s cock to suckle at the last remaining spurts, thick briney semen washing over his taste buds and Shiro let out a moan that shook his entire body. He was stated at both ends, with cum and (false) knot. His body slid forward, going slack as his muscles relaxed, propped up only by the hand and dick inside him. 

A finger swiped over his cheek, wiping the mess of drool and come from the corner of his mouth. Keith looked at him with bewilderment and awe, gently easing Shiro off his spent cock and guiding him up by his chin until their lips met. The Alpha’s tongue slipped out, cleaning at the errant patches of his seed that still covered Shiro’s lips. A slow kiss, exploratory, almost too much for his too-sensitive body right now, but Shiro revealed in it, leaning into Keith and letting him take the lead. 

When they finally parted Keith was smiling at him. There was a tug at his entrance and Lance’s hand slid from inside him, coming to wrap around his waist to rest on his middle, slick and warm. He could feel him nuzzling at his neck, nose - always a few degrees cooler than he ever expected - tracing over his hairline as Lance hummed happily. He was almost content with just this. 

_ Almost _ . He’d woken up with a mission in mind after all. 

Lance was rubbing circles over his stomach now, stoking the heat that was still burning, albeit calmed for now. “You think you’re ready for it Shiro? We don’t have to now if you don’t feel up to it.”

“No,” Shiro shook his head, “I’m ready. Let’s do this.” 

Lance continued rubbing his stomach, sliding slick and god knows what else up and down his chest. Keith was petting his hair, letting his fingers run over the tips of Shiro’s ears in that way that just had Shiro wanting to melt into a puddle of goo. No one made a move.

“So, how exactly do we do this?” Lance mused. He could hear the frown in the other’s voice. “Like… obviously we both can’t go at it from the same side, but then like... how? Do you and I just scissor and Shiro sits down between us?”

Keith rolled his eyes in such an over-dramatic way that had Shiro certain he’d been taking lessons from Pidge and shoved Lance down, knocking Shiro along with him between the other Alpha’s thighs. He could feel Lance’s new hardness butting into his back, an echo of Keith from what felt like both ages and seconds earlier. The other Alpha crawled closer, and easy lopping pace that sent chills down Shiro’s spine. Keith was like a jungle cat, prowling towards his prey without hurry, eyes just as hypnotic. His hand pressed against Shiro’s chest again, pushing both him and Lance down into the mattress. 

A squeak left Lance, voicing what Shiro’s body was anticipating to much to say. With one hand he ripped Shiro’s boxers from his waist, leaving the sodden cloth rumpled and dangling from one leg as he leaned closer still, pressing Shiro’s knees up to his chest, sliding him inch by slow inch up Lance’s body. He could feel the cock beneath him slide down his ass, poking and prodding at his flushed skin, every it caught making him gasp and moan. He was ready.  _ Fuck was he ready _ . After everything that had happened in the past month, the heat, what came after, he was ready for this, more ready than he’d ever been for a mating in his life. He wanted it, more than anything. 

With a gasp he felt it side free, coming to bump against the underside of his ass and hole, sending shocks of need shooting through him each time it touched his waiting entrance. Keith’s came to knock against it, twin heads brushing up and over his taint as Shiro fought to stay still and patient.  _ They were there, they were right there, holy fuck. _ Just a little bit longer, a few seconds more of waiting. 

“Lance, spread him for me.”

His knees were lifted further still as Lance took them from Keith. He was splayed wide and open now. If he tried to sit up he could see the tips of both cocks between his legs, Keith’s butting against the base of his own cock as Lance’s peeped out from behind his balls. Both were already hard again. 

“Okay, you’re going in first.” Keith grabbed Lance’s cock and poked it against Shiro’s rim. Shiro’s body reacted on instinct, trying to press down onto the length and seat it inside himself. Lance’s hands kept him from it. He barely got more that the very start inside him before he was held back, Keith’s palm pressed against the underside of his hips to hold him there. 

_ Right. He shouldn’t jump into this _ . It already felt so good. Lance’s cock was softer than the sink of either of their fingers, filling him out with an easy stretch that settled warm and ready against his walls. He let himself try to memorize the feeling of it, of a cock just spreading him open for the first time. It’d be the first of many, he was sure, of lazy Sunday mornings and rough hard fucks of ruts and heats. He sucked in a breath at the thought. God, he wanted to know what a rut would be like with them...

Together they slid him further down Lance’s cock, maybe about halfway before stopping. He could feel Keith’s fingers probing at his rim, one, then two of them slipping inside along the shaft to rub up against his walls. Both him and Lance let out a moan at the friction. It felt so good, that stretch. A third finger was added and Shiro arched into it. He’d never thought he could be this full, and still he wanted more. 

He wanted Keith. 

“Please,” he whined, hands reaching fruitlessly at the Alpha just out of his grasp. “Keith please, you too. I need you.”

“Needy…” Lance purred. The Alpha’s teeth caught at Shiro’s ear, nipping and tugging and making his vision blur. “It’s a good thing. There’s not many Omegas who want two Alphas after all.” He kissed the spot his teeth had just marked. “S’like it was meant to be.”

Keith bobbed his head and retracted his fingers, leaving Shiro feeling empty despite the fill of Lance inside him. Lance waggled his hips beneath him and Shiro felt him bump up against his walls. 

“You coming Keith? The water’s  _ great _ .”

Keith flashed them both a smirk and slicked up his cock, lining up right behind Lance.  He could feel his thumb catching his rim and the underside of Lance’s cock, the rest just an inch behind it. 

Keith pressed in.

The stretch was immediate. Shiro groaned as his hole widened to accommodate the new addition, sucking around the tips of both cocks. For a second he was convinced it wouldn’t fit, and then Keith’s head popped inside, slick dripping from his entrance at the welcome intrusion. It was on the lip just before pain, like fingers raking over his back or teeth gliding over his neck. Good in its threat to assault and overwhelm. Suddenly it was hard to breathe. 

“Shiro, you okay?” Keith was massaging his thighs, slow circles working into the muscle as he coaxed Shiro to relax into him. “Too much?”

He shook his head, tears brimming even as he felt Keith slide another centimeter inside him. “No… it’s good. Just… go slow.” Keith let loose a relieved smile and continued to work his way inside. One of his legs was let go for Lance to stroke his side, soothing him even more into taking them both.

He could feel every inch of them, every vein and curve inside his ass as they slid inch by slow inch. Keith pushing first, sliding deeper, and then Lance, cock squeezing up to join Keith as the two Alphas pulled his hips down on them. The heat inside him was incredible. Their cocks were warming him from inside out, sweat beading on his chest and hips as they filled him more and more. All the while his own cock rehardened, trembling as it rose like a drunken soldier where it had lain forgotten. Ready at attention for round two. 

Finally, after what felt like ages, he felt Keith’s hips rest against his rear, Lance’s balls pressed up against his taint.  _ They were inside _ . Shiro stared at his stomach, where the shape of them pressed his abdomen out in a small peak. It almost didn’t seem real. But when his fingers rubbed over the spot he could feel them, hear their deep purrs at his touch and how they hardened at his touch. He was full, full beyond his wildest dreams. 

“So good… Shiro…” Lance nosed at his cheek, coaxing Shiro to turn, and then their lips were meeting, tongues brushing as they kissed. He could feel the Alpha’s hand come to rest atop his own, feeling the proof of their conquest from where it lay inside him. Keith joined them, finger rubbing up and down the shape of their cocks inside as he leaned forwards, chest bumping against Shiro’s own as he kissed along the Omega’s cheeks and jaw. He took over from Lance, lapping at the corners of where their lips met and then it was Lance’s turn to nudge up against his face as he and Keith shared a long, deep kiss, tongue exploring the taste of his partners. 

He was about to lean back into Lance, to taste him once more, and then  _ he  _ was watching, lips rubbing up against their cheeks and Keith and Lance kissed deep, sinking further into each other’s bodies and his own between them. It made his heart swell, seeing the way Keith’s lashes fluttered at the touch, feeling Lance’s heart hammer against his back from within the Alpha’s chest. All too soon though they opened their eyes, pulling back with cheeks hotter than the reddest suns as they hid their faces in either side of his neck. Something there, albeit still new and alien for them both. Shiro made a note to nurture it from now on. 

“So…” he chuckled after a second, “are you going to get started or should I?”

“I…” Keith stammered.

Lance sucked in a breath. “Holy fuck… that’d be hot.”

Shiro suppressed another laugh. Each time his body shook with one he could feel them inside him even more. He hooked an arm around Keith’s neck and slid the other behind Lance’s back to brace himself. He began to pull off their cocks. 

Instantly his nerves were set alight. With the two of them inside him, like one monstrous cock, there was no way he could move without them dragging over every sensitive spot inside himself. Just lifting off a fraction of and inch had him moaning, body battling with itself whether it wanted to feel them slide in and out of his hole or plug it full with their lengths. The sheer emptiness it it left in him was enough to keep him from pulling off completely, keeping them deep inside himself as he rode them with shallow thrusts. Their hands rested on his abdomen, stroking themselves through his skin as he moved, their breathing just as ragged and undone as his own. Keith was kissing up and down Shiro’s face, forehead, cheeks, jaw, anywhere he could find purchase to ground himself. Lance was against his neck, suckling away at the sensitive skin of his nape and rolling it between his lips. He’d be littered with bruises later no doubt, evidence of what they’d done, but he couldn’t care less about that future shame. There was nothing wrong about how he felt right now. 

Lance let out a growl and squeezed Shiro’s middle, making him lose his pace and the breath from his lungs. He lay there, dazed for a second, only for the Alpha to begin to rut up into him, overtaking his pace and starting to fuck into him with wild abandon. Shiro whimpered as he felt Lance start to pull out more and more, threatening the loss of his cock with each new pull of his hips guiding his cockhead closer and closer to Shiro’s rim. 

Keith’s tongue was laving over the shell of Shiro’s ear, and then he too was moving, thrusting back and forth in Shiro’s hole. Unlike Lance his pace was slow, sensual, making sure he dragged over every last bump and nerve inside his Omega both in and out. There was no keeping up with them, no rhythm or rhyme to the way they fucked him. Together they were breaking him, setting every last sense of his on fire as they pounded into him. All the while, they whispered in his ear, kissed along his neck and face, praising him. 

Hands gripped his tits, fondling his nipples and milking his voice from his throat, gasps and whines and pleas for them to  _ fuck him harder _ .  _ Deeper. Come inside _ . He could feel their knots catching his rim now with each thrust, fighting against each other to pop back inside again and again. He was lost to it, this pleasure. Shiro would surrender himself to them again and again, let them send him into clouds of euphoria and coax him back down every time. It felt  _ so right _ , that fullness from their cocks, that heavy weight of pleasure that shifted below his navel. 

When he came, it was when the first knot burst inside him.

Lance’s breakneck pace had him sliding home first, squeezing its way beside Keith’s cock to catch just behind his rim. It was all Shiro’s body needed to come undone, his own member spraying over his and Keith’s chests as his vision swam before his eyes and rush of heat swept over him from head to toe of a rolling wave. He shook, insides pulsing as he started to milk them inside him, muscles clamping down on the knot squeezing pulse after pulse of Lance’s come inside him, flooding his insides even as he sank boneless against him. 

Keith continued to rock, shallow little thrusts massaging himself against Shiro’s spasming walls. He could feel the heat of Keith’s base against his ass, feel the knot trying to form even without the nurturing confines of his cunt. Despite the rush of come still washing into him his nerves remained on edge, feeling Keith inch little by little by…

Lance’s knot swelled down slightly with the next rush of seed and it was all he needed. That extra bit of room, that extra feeling of need in Shiro’s cunt and Keith’s knot stretched him, spreading him impossibly wide, to the point that tears swam in his eyes and spots before him. Keith’s knot popped inside and swelled anew. 

And then they were all coming. Lance still trailing off in his orgasm, and Keith just beginning, one tap trickling off just as another turned on, and fresh heat washed through the deepest reaches of Shiro. His own body tensed and climaxed again, despite the orgasm that had just shaken him moments before. It was so much… so full… His hands reached to feel his belly, the gentle swell forming as Keith and Lance continued to fill him, panting hard into his neck as they came, nipping over his jaw and ears as they rutted into him, wave after wave of their orgasms rebounding off each other’s echoes. 

Somewhere in the midst, Shiro drifted off. 

* * *

When he finally came back, it was to the feeling of faces nuzzling his and hands gently stroking his tired sides. Keith straightened up at the sight of Shiro’s flickering eyelids, finger rubbing over his swollen lips as he smiled. 

“Thank god, you were really out of it for a second Shiro.”

“We didn’t think you’d enjoy yourself  _ that _ much,” Lance said with a lighthearted squeeze, and Shiro felt his insides tense. He looked down

The flow of come inside him had long since stopped, though both Keith and Lance remained knotted inside him, squeezed one behind the other in his well-fucked hole. But that wasn’t what drew his eye. 

It was the swell of his stomach. Like Thanksgiving dinner plus an entire pie, Shiro’s middle rose before him, stuffed full of both his boyfriend’s seed. The lock of their knots obviously hadn’t let more than a drop spill out of him, leaving the incredible ache of fullness throughout his body. He ran a hand over the globe, feeling how the cooling heat inside slid beneath his touch. 

“Yeah…. sorry about that,” Lance said. “We didn’t realize we’d come that much properly knotted. Honestly a pretty big surprise. Does it hurt?” He ran a finger around Shiro’s navel.

Shiro shook his head. Other than the slight bloated feeling he felt fine. Actually… “It kind of feels nice.” He tasted the words as he said them.  _ Yeah,  _ nice. “Different than sex, but still… kinda good? Like proof of how much you enjoyed it?”

Keith sucked in a breath. “ _ Fuck.” _

“That’s hot.” 

The two of them were running their hands over it now with wonder, proof of how they could provide for their Omega and how willing he was. Somewhere in the back of Shiro’s mind pricked the idea of them running their hands over a different type of bump, no less awed then they were now. He felt a shiver run up his spine. Not now. That was something to think about for another time, after war and peace reigned. But still… he traced over the swell himself… he could get used to this. 

“How long until your knots go down, you think?”

“Twenty, thirty minutes? It kind of depends.” Lance was burrowing his face back into Shiro’s neck, taking deep whiffs of Omega scent. “I’m usually around the thirty minute mark but it's hard to say what it’ll be when it’s the real deal.”

“Same,” Keith hummed, easing himself so that he laid just to the side of Shiro, one arm and leg still wrapped around him. “Hard to say with two knots too. Could take even longer.”

“Good,” Shiro sighed. His body was turning leaden now, but in a good way. “I want to stay like this, just a little longer.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is it! Thanks so, so much for taking the ride with me throughout this crazy adventure <33 Special thanks to everyone who left comments along the way, big or small, and especially anyone who's been here since the start. A lot's changed in the year and a half since I started this, so here's to the next year and a half!
> 
> I'm opening a series up so that I can occasionally branch out into other, shorter one shots exploring different things I didn't get to cover in this baby. If you have suggestions feel free to leave them in the comments or on curious cat if you'd rather remain anonymous (:  
> https://curiouscat.me/teiandcake

**Author's Note:**

> i've got a plan of where this is headed smut wise but if you've got something in mind for these dorks please bounce it off me and see if it sticks


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